Liability ― supplies of postage stamps and philatelic items

Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
Produced by a Tolley Value Added Tax expert
Value Added Tax
Guidance

Liability ― supplies of postage stamps and philatelic items

Copyright © 2026 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    unused stamps that are no longer valid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+™
  • 30 Mar 2026 10:50

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

Popular Articles

Personal Tax

Foreign tax relief

Foreign tax reliefIncome and gains may be taxable in more than one country. The UK has three ways of ensuring that the individual does not bear a double burden:1)treaty tax relief may reduce or eliminate the double tax2)if there is no treaty, the individual can claim ‘unilateral’ relief by deducting

14 Jul 2020 11:44 | Produced by Tolley Read more Read more
tag-icon Tax Returns
Owner-Managed Businesses

Relief for employee share schemes

Relief for employee share schemesRemuneration expenses are generally deductible for corporation tax purposes as they are considered to be incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade. However, expenses relating to shares are usually classed as capital and are therefore not

14 Jul 2020 13:21 | Produced by Tolley Read more Read more

Foreign self-employment

Foreign self-employmentTrading in another jurisdiction involves many issues, only some of which involve taxation. Advice should be taken, not only in relation to tax but on the wider business implications. For an overview of the points to consider for certain jurisdictions see Tolley's Global

Read more Read more