Thanks. I'm querying on behalf of someone else who is a sole trader medical practitioner, they are VAT exempt because of their profession. Theres confusion about are they supposed to pay VAT if they import equipment from Sweden.
If the business imports goods worth €41,000 or more in a year it MUST register for VAT in Ireland and quote the Irish VAT number to the Swedish supplier. The Swedish supplier then zero rates the supply and the Irish business charges itself the VAT (at 23%) and pays it over to the Revenue.
If the imports are not going to reach €41k, there is no obligation to register for Irish VAT and instead they will be charged Swedish VAT which will not be recoverable.
Does a vat exempt sole trader pay VAT when buying a piece of equipment from S...
I'd be with Nige on this one.
Unless the value of the goods being imported exceed €41k they pay the Swedish VAT.
Sometimes there is confusion between VAT exempt ie a doctor, VATable but not register a hairdresser and VATable but holding an exemption certificate S56b.