Recycling sample shoes

m@cc@

Our company currently has a large volume of shoes (samples) in a warehouse which we wish to dispose of. As they are samples we have not paid VAT on them and cannot resell them even as part of a sample sale.

We would wish to dispose of them in an environmentally friendly way but also mindful of the cost-effectiveness of any method we should proceed with.

Can anyone offer any possible methods for disposal?


Thanks

RussellTuring

Would you not be allowed to donate them to charity? How many are they? What sizes/styles/materials?

Macha

Yes, I think homeless charities in particular might be interested.

m@cc@

The big problem with these shoes is that they they cannot be re-sold anywhere without the VAT being paid on them. I've contacted numerous charities but they all insist on reselling them which just isn't an option.

Macha

m@cc@ wrote: »

The big problem with these shoes is that they they cannot be re-sold anywhere without the VAT being paid on them. I've contacted numerous charities but they all insist on reselling them which just isn't an option.

Really? They wouldn't take them to give to homeless people? Well then the only other place I can think of would be a theatre company as props...

m@cc@

Macha wrote: »

Really? They wouldn't take them to give to homeless people? Well then the only other place I can think of would be a theatre company as props...

It's more the volume that's an issue. I'm talking about 28,000 shoes (some which are just single shoes).

MalteseBarry

m@cc@ wrote: »

The big problem with these shoes is that they they cannot be re-sold anywhere without the VAT being paid on them. I've contacted numerous charities but they all insist on reselling them which just isn't an option.

You are not selling them, you are donating them to charity. Should the charity wish to sell them at a later date, any resultant VAT liable as a result of that sale is between them and the revenue commissioners. Why do you feel responsible for them after you have donated them to charity?

Macha

True - maybe an art's project - NCAD? A fashion school? Bloody awful that there's so much poverty but no one will take your shoes.

MalteseBarry

From what he has said, the charities will take his shoes, but he won't give them to the charities he says he has called.

m@cc@

MalteseBarry wrote: »

From what he has said, the charities will take his shoes, but he won't give them to the charities he says he has called.

I'm afraid I have to look at it from a corporate side as well. If we pass the shoes on and the charities sell them on. If the Inland Revenue gets wind of it, they'll be all over us in the future when it comes to importing samples.

Ideally, what I would like is a place which would take the shoes apart and make them in to textiles.

MalteseBarry

m@cc@ wrote: »

I'm afraid I have to look at it from a corporate side as well. If we pass the shoes on and the charities sell them on. If the Inland Revenue gets wind of it, they'll be all over us in the future when it comes to importing samples.

Ideally, what I would like is a place which would take the shoes apart and make them in to textiles.

What does "pass on" mean? If you "donate" the shoes to charity, you have donated the shoes to charity.

If the charity then sells the shoes, and the revenue deems VAT should be paid on their sale, the charity is liable to pay the VAT to the revenue out of the sale proceeds, and not a previous owner.

There is no VAT liability to your company if you donate shoes free of charge to a charity. Whether or not you paid VAT on these shoes when you obtained them is irrelevant.

Even if you find someone who takes the shoes apart, if the resulting "textiles" are sold they will be liable for VAT under exactly the same rules as if they were still the original shoes.

It seems, from your posts here, that you need to have this clarified by your corporate accountant, rather than relying on advice from anonymous people on a message board, as your understanding of how VAT works appears to be based on a misunderstanding.

Further, you seem to be under the illusion that, once you have "passed on" or donated your shoes to someone else, that you retain no more rights to the shoes, but do retain some sort of potential tax liability into the future dependent on their actions at a further date.

Any potential VAT liability you might have is decided upon at the point you "pass on" your shoes. If you pass them on at €0.00 value, if you are liable for VAT at, say, 21%, the VAT on the transaction is €0.00 x 21%, which is, obviously, zero.

Once they have legitimately passed out of your hands, you have no more liability for VAT.

Who has advised you that, once you "pass on" goods to someone else, you retain a liability for VAT for the rest of the products life, even though you have no title to the property?