VATTOS8200 - Tax points for specific categories of supplier: advertising agencies

Continuous supplies

Contrary to what is suggested by their name, advertising agencies are normally principals in their relationship with their clients. The normal practice is for an agency to act exclusively for a client under the terms of an on-going written contract. Their supplies are a continuous supply of services that fall within the scope of regulation 90 of the VAT Regulations 1995 (see VATTOS2355). The tax point is therefore the earlier of the receipt of payment or the issue of a VAT invoice. For further information on continuous supplies of services see VATTOS9150.

Single supplies

The normal time of supply rules apply to any single, one-off types of supply. An agency wishing to include supplies of this nature in their normal monthly billing procedure will need to apply for an accommodation tax point (see VATTOS6200).Alternatively, some agencies will have genuine grounds for applying for an extension to the 14 day rule (see VATTOS5240) where the costs associated with a single supply are not known when the supply is made.