Value Added Tax Act 1994 section 59

Goods transferred to the customer within 12 months of arrival

Section 59 sets out the VAT treatment that applies when a supplier transfers full ownership of goods to a customer within 12 months of those goods arriving in the destination territory, provided no relevant event has occurred in the meantime.

• Where full ownership of goods passes to the customer within 12 months of arrival in the destination territory, and no relevant event has occurred, specific deemed supply rules are triggered.
• The supplier is treated as having made a supply of the goods in the relevant territory (the United Kingdom if the origin territory is Northern Ireland, or the member state if the origin territory is a member state), and the goods are treated as having been removed from the origin territory at the time ownership transferred.
• Whatever the customer pays for the transfer of ownership is treated as the consideration for that deemed supply, and the customer is treated as having made an acquisition of the goods in the destination territory.
• If a relevant event (as defined in paragraph 63) occurs between the goods arriving and ownership transferring, these deemed supply rules do not apply.