Liability ― supplies of postage stamps and philatelic items

Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis
Produced by a Tolley Value Added Tax expert
Value Added Tax
Guidance

Liability ― supplies of postage stamps and philatelic items

Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis
Produced by a Tolley Value Added Tax expert
Value Added Tax
Guidance
imgtext

This guidance note provides an overview of the VAT treatment of supplies of postage stamps and philatelic items.

Is there VAT on postage stamps?

There is no VAT on the face value of stamps that can be used to pay for first or second-class postage services supplied by Royal Mail. The face value of a stamp is its normal price and may be stated on, or recorded within, the stamp or the conditions governing its use.

If a stamp that can be used to pay for first or second-class postage services supplied by Royal Mail is sold for a price that exceeds its face value, only the amount by which the price exceeds the face value of the stamp is subject to VAT at the standard rate.

The following categories of postage stamps are subject to VAT at the standard rate when sold in the UK:

  1. •

    used stamps

  2. •

    unused stamps that are no longer valid

  3. •

    foreign stamps

Notice 701/8

Stamps that are subject

Continue reading the full document
To gain access to additional expert tax guidance, workflow tools, generative tax AI, and tax research, register for a free trial of Tolley+™
TAKE A FREE TRIAL NOW
Powered by Tolley+™
  • 14 Nov 2023 11:11

Home/ Tolley Tax Guidance/ Value Added Tax / Determining VAT liability

Popular Articles

Owner-Managed Businesses

Residential property and capital allowances

Residential property and capital allowancesResidential property ― plant and machinery allowancesOrdinary residential property does not, and never has, qualified for capital allowances. as CAA 2001, s 35 denies plant allowances for expenditure incurred in providing plant or machinery for use in a

14 Jul 2020 17:14 | Produced by Tolley in association with Martin Wilson and Steven Bone Read more Read more
Personal Tax

Inter-spouse transfer

Inter-spouse transferIntroductionWhen a chargeable asset is transferred between two spouses or civil partners, there is a disposal by the transferor spouse / civil partner and an acquisition by the transferee spouse / civil partner for capital gains tax purposes. For simplicity, spouses and civil

14 Jul 2020 12:01 | Produced by Tolley Read more Read more
Employment Tax

Incentives, awards and prizes

Incentives, awards and prizesIntroduction ― incentives, awards and prizesEmployers may use a variety of methods to reward and encourage employees in their work. These are commonly known as incentives, awards or prizes. For the purposes of this note, the term ‘award’ will be used to cover all

14 Jul 2020 11:57 | Produced by Tolley Read more Read more