Brexit - Northern Ireland new country codes

Solution Properties

Solution ID:

201125100227210

Last Modified Date:

Thu Dec 19 14:49:10 UTC 2024

Taxonomy Path:

Case category//How do I...//governmental/legislative compliance

Author:

[email protected]

Brexit - Northern Ireland new country codes

Description

[BCB:42:CSat FB drive:ECB]

Since 1 January 2021, the UK is no longer part of the EU VAT regime. However, under the Northern Ireland Protocol, Northern Ireland will maintain alignment with the EU VAT rules for goods, but not services.

The EU has implemented some new VAT country codes if you trade and make transactions under the Northern Ireland protocol:

XI - Northern Ireland: HMRC advised to use a prefix of XI on the VAT Registration Number on invoices for goods, falling under Northern Ireland protocol. This is mainly goods sold from Northern Ireland to an EU member state. If selling goods from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland, any reference to the customer VAT registration should reference XI. Also use XI as the country code for Intrastat and EC Sales purposes
XU - Great Britain: HMRC have not provided any guidance regarding the use of this country. This article will be updated at such time that the rules regarding the use of this country become clear. If maybe that use of the XU code is not required

Sage 50 Accounts v27.1 and above

Two new country codes have been created:

Country	Code	EU Member
Northern Ireland	XI	Yes
Great Britain	XU	No

To check these:

Click Settings then Countries

When to use the XI country code

▼ If your company is trading under the Northern Ireland protocol

Use the XI code when invoicing for goods which fall under the Northern Ireland protocol. Therefore in Sage 50 Accounts, you need to update your country in company preferences and also include it on invoices when communicating with customers in the EU.

Change the country in company preferences

Click Settings then click Company Preferences.
If prompted enter your Password and click OK.
Click the Country drop-down and click Northern Ireland XI.
Click OK.

Update your invoice layout to show the new code

For each of these options you have the choice to show both VAT Registration Numbers on your invoice, or alternatively have two layouts, one to use for goods under the Northern Ireland protocol, and one for services, and goods not under the protocol.

Option 1 - If your VAT Registration Number is added to your invoice layout as a text field

For example, if your invoice has a text field for the VAT Registration Number as follows:

VAT Registration Number: GB123456789

For a single invoice layout, add a second line for the Northern Ireland protocol number:

VAT Registration Number: GB123456789
VAT Registration Number (Northern Ireland protocol): XI123456789

If you are using a separate invoice layout for the Northern Ireland protocol invoices, replace the existing text, for example:

VAT Registration Number (Northern Ireland protocol): XI123456789

To find out how to update text on a document in our article.

Option 2 - If you use variables to show your VAT Registration Number

If you use the two variables for the country code and the VAT Registration Number to show your VAT Registration Number on your invoice layout, you can update the country code variable for the Northern Ireland protocol.

To use a single layout:

Copy the existing VAT Registration Number onto a second line, and rename it VAT Registration Number (Northern Ireland protocol), this will print XI as the prefix.

On the original VAT Registration Number entry, change the Country_Code variable to Country_Code_Converted. This then prints a prefix of GB rather than XI.

This means you will then have both the GB and XI VAT Registration Numbers on the invoice layout.

To use two layouts:

Northern Ireland protocol layout - use your existing layout - this now prints XI as the prefix
Non Northern Ireland protocol layout - copy your layout and change the Country_Code variable to Country_Code_Converted. This then prints a prefix of GB rather than XI

EC sales list - continue to produce an EC Sales list for Goods only, using tax code T4 for the sale of goods, and T0 for the sale of services.

Intrastat - continue to produce Intrastat reports as normal.

▼ If your customer or supplier is based in Northern Ireland

Change the country for customers and suppliers in Northern Ireland to use the new code. This is because EC sales and intrastat still need to be produced for these companies.

Change the country for a customer or supplier

Click Customers or Suppliers.
Select the required record and click Edit.
Click the Country drop-down and click Northern Ireland XI.
Click OK.

Update your invoice layout to show the new code.

To use a single layout:

Copy the existing VAT Registration Number onto a second line and rename it VAT Registration Number (Northern Ireland protocol) then change the Country_Code variable to Country_Code_Converted. This then prints a prefix of GB rather than XI.

To use two layouts:

Northern Ireland protocol layout - use your existing layout - this now prints XI as the prefix
Non Northern Ireland protocol layout - copy your layout and change the Country_Code variable to Country_Code_Converted. This then prints a prefix of GB rather than XI

EC Sales - when you produce the EC Sales list, customers with the new country code of XI for Northern Ireland will be included.

Intrastat -when you produce the intrastat reports, customers with the new country code of XI for Northern Ireland will be included.

Sage 50 Accounts v27.0 and below

In Sage 50 accounts v27.0 and below you need to enter the VAT Registration Number to include both GB and XI prefixes.

▼ If your company is trading under the Northern Ireland protocol

Enter the prefix to include both GB and XI when you enter their VAT Registration Number, for example GB/XI123456789.

Click Settings then click Company Preferences.
If prompted enter your Password and click OK.
Click VAT then clear the Validate VAT Number check box.
In VAT Reg enter your VAT Registration Number, including both prefixes, for example GB/XI123456789.
Click OK.

▼ If your customer or supplier is based in Northern Ireland

Enter the prefix to include both GB and XI when you enter their VAT Registration Number, for example GB/XI123456789.

Click Customers or Suppliers.
Select the required record and click Edit.
In VAT Number enter their VAT Registration Number, including both prefixes, for example GB/XI123456789.
Click Save.

[BCB:97:Limitless - 50 Accounts - VAT:ECB]