Impact of tertiary VAT legislation

Key points

• Tertiary legislation has the same legal status as primary and secondary legislation.
• HMRC has always included tertiary legislation in its VAT notices.
• The new manual contains useful reminders on several VAT topics.

What exactly is meant by the phrase ‘tertiary legislation’? The answer is that it relates to the powers given by statute to HMRC so that it can stipulate specific conditions and procedures on a particular aspect of the legislation. It has the same legal status as primary and secondary legislation.

To share a practical example margin scheme accounting is a privilege to a business that trades in second-hand goods because output tax is payable on the profit margin rather than the full selling price. It is therefore reasonable that the legislation in Article 13(1) of the VAT (Special Provisions) Order SI1995/2518 gives HMRC the power to impose certain record-keeping conditions about use of the scheme....