Value Added Tax Act 1994 section 5B

Supplies of goods in Northern Ireland facilitated by online marketplaces: deemed supply

Section 5B creates a deemed supply mechanism for goods sold through online marketplaces in connection with Northern Ireland, making the marketplace operator responsible for VAT rather than the underlying seller.

• When goods are sold through an online marketplace and certain conditions are met, the marketplace operator is treated as having bought the goods from the seller and then sold them on to the customer, making the operator liable for VAT.
• The "special scheme condition" applies where the customer is a non-taxable person in Northern Ireland and the marketplace operator participates in the special scheme under Schedule 9ZE — but not where a UK-established seller is simply moving goods from Great Britain or the Isle of Man to Northern Ireland.
• The "Union goods condition" applies where the seller is not established in Northern Ireland or an EU member state, the customer is a non-VAT-registered person in Northern Ireland or an EU member state, and the goods are Union goods already located in Northern Ireland — but not where the seller is established in Great Britain or the Isle of Man and the customer is in Northern Ireland.
• "Union goods" are goods that have customs union status under EU customs law, meaning they are in free circulation within the EU customs territory, which includes Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework arrangements.