Vintro Pro
NL · FR · EN
Vintro Pro
NL · FR · EN
A simple type with one awkward edge: when does an incomplete set stop being goods that can be used again?
A second-hand toy is second-hand goods and falls under the margin.
Second-hand toys fall under the margin scheme. A set missing so much that it is no longer usable falls outside it.
A used toy 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 in a single sentence.
The edge that really matters in this trade is completeness. A building set half empty, a jigsaw missing three pieces: at some point a set is no longer usable goods.
Vintage toys and ordinary second-hand toys follow the same rule. If a piece is rare enough to count as a collector’s item under section 21(5) of the VAT Act 1994, article 12(2) of the 1995 Order names that category separately too — with the same treatment. gov.uk warns that not all items that can be collected are eligible as collectors’ items.
Buy from private individuals, at an estate sale or from a colleague working under the margin, and there is no deductible VAT, so the scheme applies.
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 box of building bricks: bought for €25.00, sold for €95.00. 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 70 is 14.00, while in the UK you owe one-sixth, 11.67 — the 16.67% gov.uk quotes. At Belgium’s 21%, the same mistake turns €12.15 into €14.70. 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, second-hand goods must be suitable for further use as they are or after repair (article 2 of the 1995 Order). A set so incomplete that it cannot be played with comes close to that line. Splitting is not ruled out, though: gov.uk’s global accounting guidance lets you split collections and sell the items separately. Belgium is stricter: goods that can no longer be used in the same state are on its exclusion list.
New toys 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 Belgium FPS Finance also names new goods on its exclusion list, however long the box sat in a warehouse.
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 toys 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 toys, 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.
Item by item (Wet OB 1968, art. 28b). Per period only if the inspector designates you on request (Uitvoeringsbesluit OB 1968, art. 4c(1)(b)). An antique or collector’s item goes per period by default.
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.
In the UK, parts that are still usable can go under global accounting when you split a collection (gov.uk); what is only fit to be recycled is not second-hand goods. In Belgium, goods out of use are on the exclusion list.
Bought with VAT, it is outside the scheme in the UK; in Belgium FPS Finance excludes new goods outright, even if the box is years old.
For a batch at one price, the UK has global accounting: the margin per VAT period, as long as no single item cost more than £500 (article 13 of the 1995 Order). Not an estimate after the fact.
In the UK, global accounting lets you take the margin per VAT period, carrying a negative margin forward; in Belgium that is the default. With many small sales that matters.
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. 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. A used toy fits that, and article 12(2) opens the margin scheme to it. Belgium uses the same definition (article 58, § 4 of its VAT Code and Royal Decree no. 53).
As long as it stays usable it is second-hand goods. In the UK you may also split a collection and sell the items separately under global accounting (gov.uk). In Belgium, a set sold as loose parts because it can no longer be played with touches the exclusion of goods that can no longer be used in the same state.
Not if you bought them from a business that charged you VAT: gov.uk excludes any such item. In Belgium FPS Finance also puts new goods on its exclusion list. A never-used toy is sold with ordinary VAT on the full price.
In the UK, at 20%, the VAT is one-sixth of the margin: €70 ÷ 6 = €11.67 (in pounds the sum works the same way). In Belgium, at 21%, €12.15 (€70 × 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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