VAT Reverse Charge for Building and Construction Services Manual

VATREVCON33400 - How the construction reverse charge works: End users and intermediary suppliers: End user notification

End user exclusion only applies where the customer is an end user or intermediary and they have notified this to their supplier in writing, as per SI 2019/892 art. 8(1)(a).

Notification can be paper, electronic, or within the terms of the contract; some form of written understanding that shows the supply is to an end user. End users should retain a copy of the notification they have made to their supplier as part of their VAT record-keeping.

A supplier can include a statement in their terms and conditions to say they will assume that their customer is an end user or intermediary supplier unless they say they are not. This places a responsibility on the customer to respond if they are not an end user.

A customer who has opted to be treated as an end user would reasonably be expected to keep a copy of their end user notification and be able to produce it on the request of an officer of HMRC.

A supplier who has not applied the reverse charge because their customer has notified their end user status would also be expected to keep a copy of this notification and be able to produce it on the request of an officer of HMRC to show why they have not applied the reverse charge.

An end user notification could take many forms - the only stipulation is that it must be in writing. A customer who deals regularly with a specific supplier may have notified that supplier at some point in the past that they wish to be treated as an end user in their dealings going forward. This notification can reasonably be considered valid for future supplies, provided no communication precluding this has subsequently taken place (the customer will still be expected to be able to produce the notification on the request of an officer of HMRC). On the other hand, a customer may have given a notification that is stated to apply to a specific contract - this should not be treated as a 'rolling' notification for all future contracts.

A customer who is eligible to be treated as an end user is not obligated to provide an end user notification; instead they can choose not to provide such a notification in which case the reverse charge will be applied as normal.

If a customer notifies their supplier that they no longer wish or are no longer eligible to be treated as an end user, the end user exclusion should not be applied to supplies made after that date.

A customer can choose to be treated as an end user in its dealings with one supplier, and choose not to be treated as an end user in its dealings with another supplier.

It is a matter for the internal business processes of the supplier and the customer which persons can give and receive end user notification on their behalf.

For more information on checks on end users, see VATREVCON43000.