Finance (No. 3) Act 2010

22Postal services etcU.K.

(1)In Schedule 8 to VATA 1994 (zero-rating), in Group 8—

(a)in item 4 (transport of passengers), for “the Post Office company” substitute “ a universal service provider ”, and

(b)after Note (4D) insert—

(4E)Universal service provider” means a person who provides a universal postal service (within the meaning of the Postal Services Act 2000), or part of such a service, in the United Kingdom.

(2)In Schedule 9 to that Act (exemptions), for Group 3 (postal services) substitute—

GROUP 3 — POSTAL SERVICESU.K.
Item No

1The supply of public postal services by a universal service provider.

2The supply of goods by a universal service provider which is incidental to the supply of public postal services by that provider.

NOTES

(1)Universal service provider” means a person who provides a universal postal service, or part of such a service, in the United Kingdom.

(2)Subject to the following Notes, “public postal services”, in relation to a universal service provider, means any postal services which the provider is required to provide in the discharge of a licence duty.

(3)Public postal services include postal services which a universal service provider provides to allow a person access to the provider's postal facilities, where such services are provided pursuant to a licence duty.

(4)Services are not “public postal services” if—

(a)the price is not controlled by or under a licence, or

(b)any of the other terms on which the services are provided are freely negotiated.

(5)But Note (4) does not apply if a licence duty requires the universal service provider to make the services available to persons generally—

(a)where the price is not controlled by or under the licence, at the same price, or

(b)where terms are freely negotiated as mentioned in Note (4)(b), on those terms.

(6)In this Group—

  • licence” means a licence under Part 2 of the Postal Services Act 2000;

  • licence duty” means a duty imposed as a condition of a licence;

  • postal facilities”, in relation to a universal service provider, means the resources and systems deployed by the provider, for the purpose of discharging any licence duty to provide a universal postal service or part of such a service;

  • postal services” and “universal postal service” have the same meaning as in the Postal Services Act 2000.

(3)The following provisions are omitted—

(a)in section 96(1) of VATA 1994, the definition of “the Post Office company”, and

(b)paragraph 22(3) and (4) of Schedule 8 to the Postal Services Act 2000.

(4)The amendments made by this section have effect in relation to supplies made on or after 31 January 2011.