VSWB1010 | Scope of VSWB

VAT manuals are the main reference material on VAT for people in HM Revenue and Customs. These outline formal procedures and work systems and give managers and staff the Department’s rules and guidelines and general advice on interpreting them. Businesses should not rely on them to calculate their taxes and duties.

VSWB provides information and guidelines on the VAT treatment of supplies of private pleasure craft to private individuals.

It covers supplies made in Great Britain that are to be removed to a destination outside the UK, and to supplies made in Northern Ireland to non-EU destinations outside the UK.

References to UK should be construed accordingly unless otherwise stated.

Supplies of boats between GB and NI and visa-versa are covered in VATNIGB.

Prior to 1 January 2021 the scheme applied only to boats being removed from the UK to outside the EU.

Nothing in this guidance has direct force of law, it should be read in conjunction with VAT Notice 703/2 - Sailaway boats supplied for export outside the UK. This notice specifies the conditions having force of law, which must be met by suppliers before they can zero-rate the sale and by purchasers intending to personally export the boat from the UK.