VAT 708 13.9.1 gives examples of items not ordinarily incorporated in dwellings and therefore not building materials for VAT purposes. The last item on the list includes garden ornaments. My client sells garden sculptures which, although large, I would expect to fall in this category and therefore be standard rated. One of her customers is arguing for zero rating because it's a residential new build.
Does anyone think it would make a difference if the sculpture were:
a) placed in a pool dug into the lawn;
b) secured in concrete?
Replies (2)
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Does your client install the sculpture?
If not, it could not be zero-rated even if it was a building material.
Materials can only be zero-rated if they are building materials AND they are supplied by a person providing services related to the construction of the residential new build.