Resale of Zero Vat Rated Items?

[tobiah]

I have searched high and low for this info and just can't seem to find it...

The only thing I could find is the resale of second hand items (which were zero rated because they were second hand - not because they were zero rated tyoes of items)

Basically I am a photographer...

The photo books we sell have now been classified - zero vat rated.
If I design the album and send to the printers who deliver the album to me fully bound - completely finished (who don't charge me VAT) and then I sell the album for more than the Printers charge me do I have to pay VAT on the difference (margin) (assuming I will be VAT reg at this point)

Or

Do I not have to pay the VAT because I am selling a Zero vat rated product?

Thanks!

 

[Mitchells Bristol]

Hello there

Forgive my ignorance - is a "photo book" essentilly one of thos albums where rather than sticking or attaching a photograph into an album, the image is printed onto the book?

Presumably then the difference between a photo book and a photo album is that albums are standard rate VAT whereas photo books are zero rated.

If this is all correct then your ultimate supply to the customer will be zero-rated, so you do not need to account for any VAT on the sale.

 

[weddingphotojournalist]

It is my opinion you would have to charge VAT.

Photo books are now zero rated for VAT but photography and design are still rated at 20 percent. If your business is creating photo books then the product is zero rated, but if you are reselling the books at a profit and including design and photography services HMRC would probably expect VAT to be paid.

Further to this, if you are registered for flat rate VAT then VAT is due on your total turnover including zero rates sales. For example there is no VAT on flights, but if your client reimbursed you for flying to their wedding you would still have to pay VAT under the flat rate scheme.

Simon
www.weddingphotojournalist.co.uk

 

[David Griffiths]

It is my opinion you would have to charge VAT.

. . . ., but if you are reselling the books at a profit and including design and photography services HMRC would probably expect VAT to be paid.
http://www.weddingphotojournalist.co.uk

That doesn't seem right at all. The OP, it seems to me, is simply selling a book, not providing design and photography services to the purchasers. The book remains zero rated

For example there is no VAT on flights, but if your client reimbursed you for flying to their wedding you would still have to pay VAT under the flat rate scheme.

But you would have to charge VAT on flights when you invoiced the customer for expenses even if under the standard VAT scheme.

There is no VAT on flights when provided by the airline to the passenger. If the passenger then charges that cost as an expense it is a standard rated supply.

 

[weddingphotojournalist]

That doesn't seem right at all. The OP, it seems to me, is simply selling a book, not providing design and photography services to the purchasers. The book remains zero rated

The OP says he is a photographer, as I am. He isn't selling a random book he is selling a book of his photographs (commissioned by the client buying the book) and I presume he is designing the book. He doesn't state if the book is included as a package with photography but I presume it is. This is different to a printer who is sent a PDF design to print and bind into a book, which is zero rated for VAT. For example one of my suppliers are now selling albums with no VAT but are still charging VAT if they do the design work.

I also presume the OP as a photographer is likely to be be on the flat rate VAT scheme, in which case it makes no difference to him if the book is zero rated for VAT.

 

[Mitchells Bristol]

Whilst the OP states that he is a photographer, the specific question related to the VAT treatment of the sale of photo books.

If the OP is booked as a photographer for a wedding, say, and charges £1,000 for their services - this would be standard rated for VAT purposes. If the OP then charges £100 to print the images to a book - then this element would be zero-rated.

If the OP charges £1,100 as a single fee for photgraphing the wedding and creating the book, then it would be a mixed supply for VAT purposes, in my opinion. It would not all be standard rated.

 

[tobiah]

Thanks for all the information...

I currently charge £1995 with an album.

How would I go about apportioning my services for vat? Thanks

Also if I go for flat rate vat - will I have to pay vat at the 11% photographer rate on everything anyway?

It looks like the 11% option might be the best... although being able to claim vat back on all other items inc petrol etc for work might be better if I can apportion half of my income as album sales...