Value Added Tax Act 1994 section 5

Place of acquisition

Section 5 of Schedule 9ZA sets out the rules for determining whether goods are treated as acquired in Northern Ireland, including the general conditions that must be met and the circumstances in which exceptions or alternative rules apply.

• Goods are treated as acquired in Northern Ireland if they are removed from an EU member state to Northern Ireland without being moved onward, or if the acquirer uses a UK VAT number together with a Northern Ireland (NI) VAT identifier
• Where VAT has already been paid on the acquisition in the originating member state under that state's equivalent rules, the goods are not treated as acquired in Northern Ireland solely because a UK VAT number and NI VAT identifier were used
• Different acquisition rules apply where goods fall within the warehousing provisions of paragraphs 16 or 17 of Schedule 9ZB
• HMRC may make regulations clarifying when a person is treated as having used a UK VAT number with an NI VAT identifier, and providing for refunds of NI acquisition VAT where VAT was already paid in the originating member state