CPA Bulletin

42 CPA Bulletin > November 2021 www.cpa.uk.net Q&As: 2 Within regulation 5: paras 125 to 155 and regulation 8: paras 276 to 281 of Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) provide the regulatory requirements and guidance for the lifting of persons. BS7121 part 1 2016, section 20 provides further guidance on the lifting of persons. As this activity is regarded as a complex lift, the Appointed Person (AP) should be present during the operation. Could you help identify where within the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations, when an Appointed Person (AP) has to be on site whenMan Basket duties takes place. Further to the telephone conversation you had with one of my colleagues, are you aware of any major contractors insisting that those workers who visit one of their sites, have to prove that the worker(s) have had both Covid Vaccinations? I have not specifically heard whether any major contractor is insisting that site visitors must be double vaccinated before being allowed on to their site. Whether this becomes a standard requirement remains to be seen. In the meantime, we will monitor the situation. I wonder if you could help clarify the position on VAT charges with regards to the refilling of fuel. The reason I ask is that some plant- hire companies seem to be moving towards charging 20% and not 5% on red diesel, but I cannot find anything which suggests that this should be the case until April 2022 when industry has to switch from red to white diesel. In fact, what I have read seems to suggest that charging 5% is correct. The confusion on whether to charge 5% or 20% VAT for red diesel is dependent at what that charge relates to. If during the hire itself, a customer asks you refill the machine’s fuel tank which you had supplied, then as that is considered a supply, and should that quantity of fuel be below 2,300 litres, then the customer is charged 5% VAT. However, if the hire has ended, and the machine has been returned to the owner’s depot, with the machine’s fuel tank not being fully refilled, the owner will top up the fuel tank. As a result of this, the owner is not actually supplying fuel to the customer, therefore the customer should be charged 20% VAT, and not 5%. This is the interpretation that HMRC Inspectors have taken when viewed under the VAT Act 1994. We as a plant-hire company have, over the years, had to complete many sub-contractors’ forms received from our customers. We complete these forms as much as possible, enclosing information, including our insurance policies, etc.; but we do not sign the form, and we enclose our covering letter with the CPA Model Terms and Conditions which up to now has been accepted by our customers. However, we currently have a customer who has yet to settle their account; but will not do so until we sign their form. Have you any advice you can give to encourage them to settle without us having to sign their form, and be liable under their conditions? This difficulty does arise from time to time. The problem stems fromwhere suppliers such as yourself provide an operator/driver and machine to your customer, who as a consequence automatically applies the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), and adopts those protocols as they see fit, i.e., they treat you as a sub-contractor, and send you their terms and conditions. Using the CPA’s template letter which explains that you are not a sub-contractor, but merely a plant supplier, can help resolve this issue. Some customers will try and get suppliers to sign their terms before payment is made, even though they may have already accepted the Model Conditions. The confusion is that because CIS applies, customers - whether it is their QS or their accounts department - then automatically feel that they have to impose their own conditions as a consequence. This is not the case. CIS payments can be made without having to sign up to the customer’s terms, particularly when the Model Conditions have already been accepted. In this case, I am unaware of any justification for your customer to withhold payment, so it may be worth enquiring why they cannot pay you without signing their terms, when they have agreed to the Model Conditions. If this problem persists, then please get back in touch.