Orders of service are usually zero-rated (0% VAT) in the UK, but only if they meet HMRC's conditions: not laminated; no more than a quarter of it is space to fill in (HMRC VAT Notice 701/10, paragraph 3.3).
PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL
Not a penny for me.I'll sit quietly at the back.
Orders of service
0% VAT
HMRC names orders of service as zero-rated. They're read on the day and not designed to be kept.
HMRC VAT Notice 701/10, paragraph 3.3
0% as long as it's:
Not laminated
No more than a quarter of it is space to fill in
Need these printed?
Tell Tenfold the quantity, size and deadline. We'll put together a quote for your job.
An order of service counts as a booklet, and that is the category that decides it. There's a detail worth knowing, because it's the one place HMRC names orders of service directly: the notice says items printed on laminated paper are designed to be kept and so aren't leaflets, but then makes an exception, that orders of service are not normally designed to be kept and may be zero-rated. So the usual worry, that something a family keeps must be standard-rated, doesn't apply here.
What decides it?
Nothing you would change. Bound or folded as a booklet, complete in itself, and it's zero-rated.
When would orders of service be charged at 20% VAT?
The zero rate applies as long as it's: not laminated; no more than a quarter of it is space to fill in. If any one of those isn't true, it isn't zero-rated, so it's 20%.
Is the design and artwork for orders of service zero-rated too?
If your printer does the design, typesetting or finishing as part of the same zero-rated print job, that work can be zero-rated too. Design bought separately from a studio is a standard-rated service.
Where does this come from?
HMRC VAT Notice 701/10, paragraph 3.3, HMRC's guidance on zero rating books and printed matter. See the notices we work from.
Some real jobs
A folded A5 order of service for a funeral0%
A booklet, complete in itself and meant to be read.
An order of service with a laminated cover0%
HMRC names orders of service as an exception: they're not normally designed to be kept.
Matching thank-you cards ordered alongside20%
Greetings cards are standard-rated. They're a separate item on the same invoice.
