Supplying equipment to EU business on rental, reverse charge?

[Karimbo]

In the past I was able to reverse charge my exhibition stand rental business as per specific allowance based on this:

741A SECTION 15.9.2 hire of exhibition stands should be treated as if they were supplied to the member state (did this 2014)

This is no longer googleable as the document has been replaced.

Now I have another EU customer that are headquatered in Sweden and their business is VAT registered. They are attending an event here in London and renting some exhibiton stands from us.

On this link, section titled "The general rule and the place of belonging" it seems to state that every B2B sale to a VAT registered EU business is reverse charged (as their place of supply is their VAT registered country). With the exception being on specific services listed on that page.

Is this correct?

 

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

You are right, the general rule for a B2B supply of services to another EU customer (they have to be a business but not necessarily VAT registered) is that the place of supply is where the customer belongs. Its outside the scope of UK VAT and the customer, if VAT registered, accounts for the supply under the reverse charge (and you complete an EC sales list).

Your services would seem to come under section 9 of VAT Notice 741A:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...of-services#services-supplied-where-performed

Specifically, it states that payment for admission to an event should be treated as supplied where the event takes place. However, it also states that "the supply of a stand with the right to exhibit at a trade show or exhibition" is not seen as admission to the event (see 9.3). As such, it would seem that your supply (if I'm understanding what you are supplying correctly) would indeed fall under the general rule and the place of supply would be Sweden.

 

[Karimbo]

Thank you, VAT literature is a minefield and you have to cross reference so much stuff.

 

[Lavender2306]

In the past I was able to reverse charge my exhibition stand rental business as per specific allowance based on this:

741A SECTION 15.9.2 hire of exhibition stands should be treated as if they were supplied to the member state (did this 2014)

This is no longer googleable as the document has been replaced.

Now I have another EU customer that are headquatered in Sweden and their business is VAT registered. They are attending an event here in London and renting some exhibiton stands from us.

On this link, section titled "The general rule and the place of belonging" it seems to state that every B2B sale to a VAT registered EU business is reverse charged (as their place of supply is their VAT registered country). With the exception being on specific services listed on that page.

Is this correct?

Karimbo, I am afraid I have to contradict you.
Section 15.9.2 of the VAT notice is not relevant to your B2B supply. It relates to services provided in a b2c basis to recipient belonging outside EU.
With regards to your current scenario, if you are renting out to your customer only a stand without providing them with other services, then this is a land related supply, which means that you will need to charge them standard rate VAT and then they will have to use crossborder vat refund scheme to be it back. I emphasise the general B2B rule, I.e. reverse charge , does not apply to this supply. It is a domestic supply at standard rate.
However, if you supply the stand as a package together with some other services and renting out a stand is not the main aim, then B2B does apply.
See updated VAT notice 741A, section 7.
Let me know if you need further clarification.

 

[Karimbo]

Lavendar

Thank you for writing in. I actually got that specifically from the VAT helpline, they have me the specific section i nthe vat bulletin and seemed to fully understand my business.

Also I should clarify, it's not land I'm supplying. exhibition stand is more the furniture and AV equipment. Not the exhibition space.

The "stand" you refer to in the context on land is provided by the event organiser. My business is an audiovisual equipment rental firm and we supply hardware as well as device setup, printing service for the client.

 

[Lavender2306]

Lavendar

Thank you for writing in. I actually got that specifically from the VAT helpline, they have me the specific section i nthe vat bulletin and seemed to fully understand my business.

Also I should clarify, it's not land I'm supplying. exhibition stand is more the furniture and AV equipment. Not the exhibition space.

The "stand" you refer to in the context on land is provided by the event organiser. My business is an audiovisual equipment rental firm and we supply hardware as well as device setup, printing service for the client.

Thank you for clarifying what your services actually are.
In that case, in 2014 when you had your query sorted by VAT helpline you were supplying B2C services of hire of goods to non business customers who belonged outside the EU? Then the section 15.9.2 was rightly relevant to your business.
If however your non business customers were inside the EU you should have applied general B2C rule, which is: VAT is charged where supplier belongs, meaning that you should have charged U.K. VAT on your services to your non business customers.
And in the scenario with your Swedish customer you will be right to apply B2B general rule as there are no exceptions to hiring of goods. Use and enjoyment rule doesn't apply here either.
So definitely you can reverse charge this particular kind of services to your B2B customers whether they belong inside or outside EU.

 

[Karimbo]

Hi Lavender, it was always b2b as you can imagine from the sort of service I provide. I think the VAT helpline staff did misdirect me.

 

[Lavender2306]

Hi Lavender, it was always b2b as you can imagine from the sort of service I provide. I think the VAT helpline staff did misdirect me.

Thanks Karimbo.
My comments above only relevant to your hiring of goods services.