Vintro Pro
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Vintro Pro
NL · FR · EN
Caravans are named outright in the scheme. The question that really matters is how far you go with the fit-out.
Second-hand caravans and campers fall under the margin scheme.
Second-hand means of transport fall under the margin scheme, caravans included. In the UK a large caravan is zero-rated, and caravans are shut out of global accounting.
In the UK a caravan is not a motor car — article 2 of the Value Added Tax (Special Provisions) Order 1995 leaves caravans out of that definition — so it is second-hand goods under the Order. Article 13(2) shuts caravans and motor caravans out of global accounting. And HMRC’s manual adds a rule no other type has: the sale of a second-hand caravan more than 7 metres long or more than 2.55 metres wide is zero-rated, while its removable contents are standard-rated (VATMARG13650). Belgium’s FPS Finance names caravans among second-hand means of transport.
In this trade a lot happens to a vehicle before it is sold on. And that is where the question starts: when does a fit-out stop being a repair?
A caravan bought from a private individual, checked over and resold is second-hand goods usable again after repair. New tyres, a repaired roof or a replaced fridge change nothing.
Buy from a dealer with VAT on the invoice and it is an ordinary purchase with deduction. That choice is made at purchase.
Article 2 of the Value Added Tax (Special Provisions) Order 1995 defines second-hand goods as “tangible movable property that is suitable for further use as it is or after repair, other than motor cars, works of art, collectors’ items or antiques and other than precious metals and precious stones”. Article 12(2) opens the margin scheme to “works of art, antiques and collectors’ items” and “second-hand goods”.
That is the whole test, and it is a test about the goods, not about your trade. The power to charge VAT on the profit margin sits in section 50A of the VAT Act 1994, which also names motor vehicles separately. Article 12(3) of the 1995 Order adds the purchase side: you must have taken possession of the goods on a supply on which no VAT was chargeable, or on another margin-scheme sale. gov.uk (VAT margin schemes) puts it plainly: you cannot use a margin scheme for “any item you bought for which you were charged VAT”. Belgium, which follows the EU VAT Directive, keeps its own exclusion list: FPS Finance names new goods, precious metals, precious stones and pearls, renovated goods, goods consumed on first use and goods that cannot be used again in the same state, under article 58, § 4 of the Belgian VAT Code and Royal Decree no. 53 of 23 December 1994. The four-country panel below shows where that changes the answer.
The example is a second-hand caravan: bought for €4,200.00, sold for €6,400.00. Put your own figures in.
Sold at a loss: no margin on this item, so no VAT. In the UK you work item by item: the loss counts as zero and gives you nothing back.
The VAT is inside the margin, not on top of it. That is the mistake this calculator is built to prevent: 20% on this example’s margin of 2,200 is 440.00, while in the UK you owe one-sixth, 366.67 — the 16.67% gov.uk quotes. At Belgium’s 21%, the same mistake turns €381.82 into €462.00. How to do this across a whole return period — and why France calculates piece by piece by law — is set out in How do you calculate margin VAT?
In the UK the margin scheme may be used for used caravans, and for a zero-rated one it covers the standard-rated removable contents (VATMARG13650; gov.uk, Selling houseboats and caravans if you use a VAT margin scheme). Each caravan needs its own entry in the stockbook, since global accounting is closed to them. A van fully converted into a camper is sold as something other than what you bought: gov.uk’s guidance on second-hand vehicles shuts out a vehicle that has to be re-registered with a new number.
Belgium excludes renovated goods and goods processed so heavily that at the point of sale you cannot establish they are the same goods. And on a supply into an EU member state the new-means-of-transport rule joins in for a motorised camper; it covers motorised land vehicles of more than 48 cc or 7.2 kW (Directive 2006/112/EC, article 2(2)).
In the UK, whether caravans fall under the scheme is a matter of UK law: HMRC runs its own margin schemes under section 50A of the VAT Act 1994. Belgium, the Netherlands and France all follow the same EU VAT Directive (2006/112/EC). Each country interprets the rules itself; where that makes a difference for caravans, this page says so. The rate and the calculation method always differ.
Margin across the whole return period. Article 58, § 4 VAT Code and RD no. 53.
Per period by default (global accounting, Uitvoeringsbesluit OB 1968, art. 4c(1)). You can opt out in writing to the inspector, for at least five years.
Legally piece by piece, but globalisation per period is allowed, with no prior election. CGI art. 297 A; BOFiP § 260.
HMRC’s own scheme, outside the EU. Below the registration threshold you pay nothing.
A van converted into a camper is sold as something other than what you bought. In Belgium that touches the exclusion of heavily processed goods; in the UK the conversion costs stay out of the margin in any case (gov.uk).
The margin is selling price minus purchase price. Materials and hours sit outside it, however large the bill.
A motorised camper within six months of first entry into service or up to 6,000 kilometres counts as new on a supply to another member state: exempt in the seller’s member state, taxed in the buyer’s (Directive 2006/112/EC, articles 2(2), 138(2)(a)).
A margin invoice carries no VAT amount.
This is an explanation, not tax advice. Whether the margin scheme is the right choice in your case, and how to enter it in your return, is a question for your accountant.
Yes. HMRC's manual says the margin scheme may be used for used caravans (VATMARG13650), as second-hand goods under the Value Added Tax (Special Provisions) Order 1995. A caravan more than 7 metres long or 2.55 metres wide is zero-rated, and then the scheme matters only for its removable contents. Belgium's FPS Finance names caravans among second-hand means of transport.
Yes. The definition of second-hand goods itself speaks of goods usable again as they are or after repair. New tyres, a repaired roof or a replaced appliance do not take it out of the scheme.
That is a different question. In the UK the 1995 Order has no renovation test, but the conversion costs stay out of the margin, and a vehicle that needs a new registration number cannot go under the scheme (gov.uk). In Belgium renovated and heavily processed goods are excluded. Put your own method to your accountant.
In the UK, for a standard-rated caravan (one more than 7 metres long or 2.55 metres wide is zero-rated), the VAT is one-sixth of the margin: €2,200 ÷ 6 = €366.67 (in pounds the sum works the same way). In Belgium, at 21%, €381.82 (€2,200 × 21/121).
The same question, a different kind of piece. The answer differs more often than you would expect.
Every piece gets its own purchase price, selling price and scheme. Vintro Pro keeps margin goods separate from the rest and works out your margin per return period.
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