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Sat 7 Nov 2020 11:32

Large van - Buying a used van, VAT or not VAT question. - mikeandvan

I'm looking to buy a used van/truck above 3.5T, and have found a suitable example on Ebay, through a small business seller. The van came from a local furniture shop who certainly would have been vat registered, I'm not sure how this seller acquired it, directly from them or what. The van is for sale without vat, I'm just wondering why that is, as it came from a vat registered company, I tried asking the seller and he didn't seem sure, but said 'the agent it came from might not have been vat registered'. That rang alarm bells for me as I guess it could have been bought by a small man and van sole trader like myself, I don;t earn enough to have to pay charge VAT yet, and I thought he might have bought it, realised there was a problem with it and quickly sold it on. Or am I being paranoid? A Little help please, i am a struggling man & van, desperate for a van with a much bigger payload so next time I get stopped on a Vosa weighbridge, I won;t be overweight.

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Sat 7 Nov 2020 12:05

Large van - Buying a used van, VAT or not VAT question. - badbusdriver

I am a self employed window cleaner, in the 11 years I've been doing it, I'm on my 3rd van. The first (which also happened to be a 3.5t) was no Vat, the second was plus Vat and the current one (2010 ex British Gas VW Caddy) was no VAT. Personally, whether or not there was VAT to be added, wouldn't affect my decision at all.

Another note though is regarding your reasoning for getting a 3.5t van. You haven't given any specifics, but don't assume a 3.5t van is going to have as high a payload as you want/need. That will depend on the size of the van, also, to a degree, the make/model. For example, an Iveco Daily has a very heavy duty chassis, meaning that there is less payload available within that 3.5 tonnes. But apart from that, an extra long wheel base high roof van will have a lower (possibly by a lot) payload than a short or medium wheelbase, low roof version of the same van.

Finally, from personal experience, with some vans you need to take any quoted payload with a large pinch of salt. That can vary depending on how it is worked out by the manufacturer. Which in the worst case might be just the weight of the bare van taken away from the GVW, and when I say bare van, I mean with no driver, passengers, fuel and possibly even oil/water.

So do your research!.

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Sat 7 Nov 2020 12:22

Large van - Buying a used van, VAT or not VAT question. - Andrew-T

I'm not a user of vans, but I thought they were always priced ex VAT ? So presumably if seller and buyer are not VAT-liable, none is paid on the transaction ?

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Sat 7 Nov 2020 14:12

Large van - Buying a used van, VAT or not VAT question. - Falkirk Bairn

A VAT reg business buys a new van and claims back VAT.

On selling the business they must charge VAT.

New VAT reg co can reclaim VAT & charge it on re-sale

and so on until

A Non Vat business or a man in the street buys the van - after that point VAT cannot be reclaimed by a VAT reg company buying the van as the VAT reclaim finished when a private buyer/non-vat business owns the van.

Cars are different from vans - only limited range VAT reg companies can reclaim VAT - car rental companies, demo cars in garages, school of motoring are some examples.

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Sat 7 Nov 2020 18:27

Large van - Buying a used van, VAT or not VAT question. - mikeandvan

What if the business remains open but they just sell the van?

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Sat 7 Nov 2020 19:05

Large van - Buying a used van, VAT or not VAT question. - Big John

What if the business remains open but they just sell the van?

It's nothing to do if the business remains open

"A Non Vat business or a man in the street buys the van - after that point VAT cannot be reclaimed"

Indeed, when a non vat business or a private individual buys the van from the last company that had claimed VAT back - VAT is payable on the sale but therafter VAT is not claimed / payable when the van is sold again. If no Vat on the current sale make sure it has been paid/not reclaimed somewhere in the past!

Edited by Big John on 07/11/2020 at 19:06

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Sun 8 Nov 2020 11:09

Large van - Buying a used van, VAT or not VAT question. - mikeandvan

Thanks, how do I go about checking whether VAT has been paid/not reclaimed?

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Sun 8 Nov 2020 11:33

Large van - Buying a used van, VAT or not VAT question. - Falkirk Bairn

Seller is responsible for his / the company's VAT liability.

As a private buyer / non Vat reg business you should just ask is the advertised price of the van includes VAT or not.

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Wed 11 Nov 2020 12:06

Large van - Buying a used van, VAT or not VAT question. - mikeandvan

Here is the van I am interested in, what I'm trying to get at is why is there not VAT on this sale?

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IVECO-65C18-Dropwell-Furniture-...Y

The guy is a business seller registered with vat, the company it came from is a large company so defo vat reg. If he bought direct from them or in an auction house for instance why is there no vat to pay? I am worried that a small non vat operator like myself bought it then sold it on quickly as it has issues. Am i being a bit suspicious here?

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Wed 11 Nov 2020 14:33

Large van - Buying a used van, VAT or not VAT question. - Andrew-T

The ad doesn't say explicitly ex-VAT or inc-VAT. Have you enquired?

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Wed 11 Nov 2020 15:12

Large van - Buying a used van, VAT or not VAT question. - badbusdriver

The ad doesn't say explicitly ex-VAT or inc-VAT. Have you enquired?

Err, actually it does, at the Bottom of the description,

£7950.00 NO VAT

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Thu 12 Nov 2020 00:04

Large van - Buying a used van, VAT or not VAT question. - cilvilservant

There's no VAT because a previous owner has paid the VAT on the vehicle.

VAT can only be charged once on vehicles. If someone claims the VAT back on a commercial vehicle, the VAT amount will be added back onto the vehicle. And round it goes until someone paid the VAT and doesn't reclaim it.

Thus not VAT on this vehicle as someone has previously paid the VAT upon purchasing the vehicle and has not claimed it back.

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