Free guide
Margin schemes without the spreadsheet
How motor traders, antique dealers, art galleries, and other second-hand retailers can handle VAT margin schemes alongside modern cloud accounting.
Last reviewed: 23 June 2026
What's inside
- 1
The £2bn UK industry that nobody built for — and why every major cloud platform skips margin schemes
- 2
The standard workaround and where it breaks: part-exchange, stock book reconciliation, the global accounting variant
- 3
How OneSixth handles every margin scheme variant — motor trade, second-hand goods, global accounting, horses & ponies
- 4
What this means for the dealer and the practitioner working alongside trade-specific software
- 5
Three ways to engage if you want to take a closer look
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Common questions
What is a VAT margin scheme?
It lets a second-hand dealer account for VAT only on the difference between buying and selling price, not the full sale — valuable because most second-hand stock is bought from private individuals with no VAT to reclaim. At 20% the VAT is 1/6 of the margin.
Which goods qualify?
Eligible second-hand goods, works of art, antiques and collectors' items — covering motor vehicles, antiques, art and general second-hand goods. It can't be used where you were charged VAT on purchase, or for excluded items like investment gold.
Do I have to keep a stock book?
Yes — the scheme requires a detailed stock book recording each item's purchase and sale, with the margin worked out per item. Without a compliant stock book HMRC can refuse the scheme and charge VAT on the full selling price.
What is the global accounting scheme?
A simplified margin scheme for high-volume, low-value second-hand goods, where VAT is calculated on the total margin across a period rather than item by item. It suits dealers who can't track individual items but can't be used for higher-value goods such as cars.
How does part-exchange work under the scheme?
The agreed part-exchange value becomes your purchase price for the margin calculation on the eventual resale — and getting those values into the stock book correctly is one of the most common places the manual workflow breaks.