What's Reverse Charge VAT Accounting for Goods?

The Reverse Charge accounting procedure was first introduced by HMRC to combat Missing Trader intra-community (MTIC) fraud, also know as carousel fraud, in business-to-business (b2b) transactions in the United Kingdom. It applies when a supply of mobile telephones or computer chips exceeds the HMRC de minimis level of £5000, exclusive of VAT. In this situation the buyer rather than the seller must account for the Output VAT to HMRC. Full details of the procedure are available on the HMRC web site.

A report called the Reverse Charge Sales List (RCSL) has been added to the System - Maintenance - VAT Processing form. This report is designed to be submitted electronically via the HMRC web site and the Government Gateway. Once you declare to HMRC that you need to use the Reverse Charge accounting procedure, the RCSL must be submitted to HMRC for each VAT period, even when no Reverse Charge supplies are traded.

Important: Supplies to customers in the United Kingdom who are not VAT registered are unaffected by Reverse Charge accounting; as the supplier you must account for the output VAT in the normal way.

Definition of mobile phones and computer chips

Mobile Phones

For the purpose of the reverse charge, mobile telephones include:

The reverse charge does not apply to the following:

Computer Chips

As a guide, all computer chips covered by the reverse charge fall within the tariff commodity code 8542 3190 00. The term covers the following:

The reverse charge applies to such items when they are in a state prior to integration into end user products. Items such as computer servers, laptops or desktop units are excluded from the scope of the reverse charge.