VATREG10000 - Entity to be registered: joint ventures and consortia

Definition

The terms joint venture and consortium have no legal significance for VAT purposes. They merely denote a situation where two or more persons come together for one or more specified business ventures or transactions.

Registration of joint ventures and consortia

When two or more persons join together in a business enterprise or venture, their activities for VAT registration purposes will fall into one of the two following scenarios:

• the terms of the agreement between the venturers create a partnership (seeVATREG08250 on partnerships), or
• the terms of the agreement between the venturers fall short of creating a partnership. In this case, the venturers should account for their own share or portion of the supplies and costs in respect of the joint venture under their existing VAT numbers. Unregistered venturers must account for their portion of the supplies when calculating their liability to VAT register.

Joint venture and consortia accounting arrangements

Where there is a joint supply of goods by the venturers, they must all account for tax on their share of the proceeds unless they enter into special arrangements for accounting for output tax on the joint purchase of an article for resale or use by the owners as detailed in VTAXPER. (External users can find this manual at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/vtaxpermanual/index.htm.)

Joint ventures involving the refurbishment and sale of property are covered in VATLPO4400. (External users can access this guidance at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/vatlpmanual/VATLP04400.htm.)