Vintro Pro
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Vintro Pro
NL · FR · EN
An instrument that is repaired stays second-hand goods. An instrument that is rebuilt becomes something else.
Second-hand musical instruments fall under the margin scheme.
Second-hand musical instruments fall under the margin scheme. In Belgium and France a full restoration can run into the renovated-goods line; in the UK it only stays out of the margin.
A played instrument is tangible movable property that can be used again. That clears the UK test in article 2 of the Value Added Tax (Special Provisions) Order 1995.
The question that really matters here comes out of the workshop. Instruments are rarely resold untouched: they are tuned, serviced, sometimes fully restored.
The definition of second-hand goods itself speaks of goods suitable for further use as they are or after repair. New strings, a fresh tuning or a repaired key mechanism therefore do not take an instrument out of the scheme.
Old instruments may additionally count as antiques — objects more than 100 years old, under article 2 of the 1995 Order — or as collectors’ items. Article 12(2) names both separately, with the same treatment.
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 guitar: bought for €180.00, sold for €430.00. 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 250 is 50.00, while in the UK you owe one-sixth, 41.67 — the 16.67% gov.uk quotes. At Belgium’s 21%, the same mistake turns €43.39 into €52.50. 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 1995 Order has no separate exclusion for renovated goods; the restoration simply stays out of the margin, since gov.uk says repairs, parts and accessories cannot be included in the calculation. In Belgium renovated goods are excluded outright, and France treats an instrument whose added parts are worth more than the used instrument plus the work as a new product. A piano with a fully renewed action, strings and case comes close to that line there.
Instruments broken up for parts can stay in the UK scheme under global accounting if each part was worth less than £500 (VATMARG03300). New instruments from end-of-line stock come with VAT on the invoice, and gov.uk excludes any item you bought for which you were charged VAT.
In the UK, gov.uk excludes any item you bought for which you were charged VAT; it does not list new goods as such. In France, goods bought from a private individual fall under the margin even if never used (rescrit BOI-RES-TVA-000270, 19 August 2026). Only Belgium’s FPS Finance names new goods as excluded. End-of-line stock bought from a business that charges you VAT falls outside the scheme in all four countries — because of that VAT, not because it is new.
In the UK, whether musical instruments 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 musical instruments, 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.
The margin is selling price minus purchase price. With instruments, where restoration is expensive, that feels unfair — but it is the rule.
In the UK the rebuild costs never enter the margin; in Belgium and France a renovated instrument leaves the scheme altogether.
In the UK that works under global accounting if each part’s purchase value stays under £500 (VATMARG03300). In Belgium goods out of use are on the exclusion list.
If your supplier charged you VAT, the instrument is not margin goods, whether or not you deducted it.
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. A played instrument is tangible movable property suitable for further use, which is the definition of second-hand goods in article 2 of the Value Added Tax (Special Provisions) Order 1995. Instruments more than 100 years old may additionally count as antiques. Belgium uses the same definition.
In the UK, yes: the 1995 Order sets no renovation test, and the restoration costs stay out of the margin (gov.uk). In Belgium renovated goods are on the exclusion list, and in France a renovated instrument becomes a new product taxed on its full price.
No. The margin is the difference between your selling price and the purchase price you paid your supplier. Hours, parts and transport sit outside it.
In the UK, at 20%, the VAT is one-sixth of the margin: €250 ÷ 6 = €41.67 (in pounds the sum works the same way). In Belgium, at 21%, €43.39 (€250 × 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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