Invoicing foreign company for Serviced- How is VAT affected?

[YHB]

Hello,

Currently working in Switzerland but returning to the UK, The company have given me the option to transfer to the London offices.

So essentially I would be working via own Ltd company invoicing the Swiss agency who would then charge the end client. Normally would charge rate and VAT but not sure how this is affected, Switzerland is non-eu as well so not sure what they have in place.

[pmeswani]

Hello,

Currently working in Switzerland but returning to the UK, The company have given me the option to transfer to the London offices.

So essentially I would be working via own Ltd company invoicing the Swiss agency who would then charge the end client. Normally would charge rate and VAT but not sure how this is affected, Switzerland is non-eu as well so not sure what they have in place.

Ultimately, you will be based in the uk and via your Ltd Company. If your Ltd company is registered for VAT, you are obliged to charge VAT to the Swiss Agency.

[chef]

and your providing services from your uk ltd to a uk location and so this is also another pointer that you should charge vat

[ASB]

I'm not so sure vat is chargeable, I don't think there is enough information to know.

Assuming that the services are provided in the the UK then this would imply the place of supply is the UK and it's UK vatable. But it may well be not the case because of the nature of the services.

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsP...346#P581_72574

It is possible that the services are covered by section 13. In which case the place of supply **can be** the customers country. Assuming the customer is the Swiss agent then the place of supply is in fact Switzerland. In which case there is no vat for the supplier to charge (though it is possible there may be Swiss "vat" type implications). [This could change, if there swiss agent has a UK office then there may potentially also be a place of belonging in the UK which may mean the supply is considered to be in the UK and the customer is considered to be in the UK]

Of course this may seem like an obvious VAT "scam", however the final customer as a consumer of those services has to account for VAT under the reverse charge rules.

I would think the OP Should talk to his VAT Office and ask them, but I can see no reason why UK would definitely be chargeable; quite the reverse in fact.

[expat]

I'm not so sure vat is chargeable, I don't think there is enough information to know.

Assuming that the services are provided in the the UK then this would imply the place of supply is the UK and it's UK vatable. But it may well be not the case because of the nature of the services......

Be careful, you can get bitten by arguments about the exact nature of the services and where they are considered to be provided. The VATman may not agree with your opinion here. Best to ask him. They don't mind telling you, and Computer does not always Say No.

[ASB]

Be careful, you can get bitten by arguments about the exact nature of the services and where they are considered to be provided. The VATman may not agree with your opinion here. Best to ask him. They don't mind telling you, and Computer does not always Say No.

Quite agree. In my case the VAT man has always agreed there are covered, and in the case of the services we provided it was fairly clear they were. From an IT point of view 13.5.2 covers a lot of the services typically provided. However more senior management roles may well not be covered by this.

The key thing is to discuss it with the VAT office, they will give you an opinion. It is always best to follow this up in writing. In this way even if a VAT inspection disagrees you have a reasonable (but not absolute) defence.