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VAT on safety footwear

VAT on safety footwear

The price shown on our website is the price you pay at checkout. This page explains when HMRC allows protective boots to be sold without VAT, when VAT at 20% applies, and how an employer orders boots for staff.

  • Buying boots for yourself

    Qualifying protective boots bought by a person for their own use are zero-rated for VAT. That includes self-employed tradespeople buying their own boots. Order online at the price shown.

  • Buying boots for your employees

    Boots supplied to an employer for use by its employees are standard-rated at 20%. Call or email us and we will raise a trade order and a VAT invoice at the standard rate.

  • Need a VAT invoice?

    A zero-rated sale can still have a VAT invoice, showing VAT at 0%. Needing an invoice does not change the rate, so there is no need to call before you order. Email us your order number if you need one.

When protective boots are zero-rated

HMRC VAT Notice 701/23 (Protective equipment) sets out the test. Protective boots are zero-rated only when all of the following apply:

  1. They are boots. Protective shoes do not qualify.
  2. They are manufactured to standards that satisfy regulation 8(2) of the Personal Protective Equipment Regulations 2002.
  3. They show the mark of conformity required by that regulation.
  4. They are for industrial use.
  5. They are not supplied to an employer for use by its employees.

If any one of these is not met, the boots are standard-rated at 20%.

Boots, not shoes

The relief covers protective boots only. Protective shoes and safety trainers are not eligible, even when they are made to the same safety standard as a boot.

HMRC's guidance takes a boot to have a minimum leg height of 90mm, measured vertically from the insole at the back of the boot. The shape of the ankle on its own does not make footwear a boot.

Buying boots for your employees

HMRC does not allow boots supplied to an employer for its staff to be zero-rated, so those orders are charged VAT at 20%. Please do not use the online checkout for boots your business is buying for employees. Contact us instead and we will set the order up correctly:

  1. Call 028 4177 3555 (Monday to Thursday 9:00am to 5:00pm, Friday until 4:30pm) or email info@mhshygiene.co.uk.
  2. Tell us your company name, the boots, the sizes and quantities you need, and where they should be delivered.
  3. We raise a trade order at the standard rate of VAT and send you a VAT invoice, so your business can reclaim the VAT in the usual way if it is VAT registered.

Reimbursed by your employer? If you buy your own boots and your employer refunds you afterwards, HMRC treats the sale as made to you, so it stays zero-rated.

Questions

If you are not sure which rate applies to your order, call us on 028 4177 3555 or email info@mhshygiene.co.uk and we will help.

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This page summarises HMRC's published guidance: VAT Notice 701/23 Protective equipment and the VAT Protective Equipment Manual (VPROTEQUIP2070, VPROTEQUIP2090). It is general information, not tax advice.

MHS Hygiene & Workwear is a trading name of Mourne Mist Bottled Water Company Ltd, registered in Northern Ireland, company number NI053315. Registered office: Newcel Group Offices, Milltown Industrial Estate, Greenan Road, Warrenpoint, BT34 3FN. VAT registration number: GB736212649.

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