VAT

News: March 2014

VAT

VAT Rates

The VAT rates and thresholds are as follows:

From: 1 April 2013 1 April 2014
Lower rate 0% 0%
Reduced rate 5% 5%
Standard rate 20% 20%
Registration turnover £79,000 £81,000
Deregistration turnover £77,000 £79,000
Acquisitions from EU member states, registration and deregistration threshold £79,000 £81,000
Changes from 2014
  • VAT treatment of prompt payment discounts given by suppliers
Changes from 2015

The Government will consult on changes to the VAT rules in the following areas:

  • Zero-rating of work to adapt cars for use by disabled persons
  • VAT avoidance scheme disclosures
  • Reverse charge for buyers of gas and electricity – not domestic customers
Duties
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)

This duty applies to the sale of land or buildings in the UK as follows:

Effective Date Residential property Non-residential or mixed property Rate
%
From 22 March 2012 Up to £125,000 Up to £150,000 0
£125,001 to £250,000 £150,001 to £250,000 1
£250,001to£500,000 £250,001 to £500,000 3
*£500,001 to £1m £500,001 and over 4
*over £1m to £2m N/A 5
* over £2m N/A 7

From 20 March 2014 the residential properties in bands marked * are subject to SDLT at the rate of 15% where the property is acquired by a non-natural person such as a company, partnership or collective investment scheme. For sales in the period: 22 March 2012 to 19 March 2014 the 15% rate of SDLT only applied to properties sold for £2 million or more where the buyer was a non-natural person.

Bingo Duty

The percentage of bingo promotion profits paid in duty is cut from 20% to 10% with effect from 30 June 2014.

Machine Games Duty (MGD)

This duty was introduced from 1 February 2013, and must be collected by the owner of the premises where the game machine is provided for play.
MGD applies at two rates:

  • 5% when the fee for playing a game is not more than 20p, and
  • 20% for other machines.

From 1 March 2015 MGD will apply at 25% for games which may cost £5 or more to play.

Air Passenger Duty (APD)

This duty currently applies at three rates (reduced, standard and higher) over four bands (A, B, C & D), according to the distance travelled.

From 1 April 2015 the bands will be reduced to two:

  • journeys up to 2000 miles
  • journey over 2000 miles

The rates will also be reduced except for the higher rate which applies to aircraft with fewer than 19 seats – generally luxury jets.