Selling cattle is where every loose end in the paperwork gets tested. This is what has to be right before the animals leave the yard, and what the buyer, the market or the abattoir will expect from you.
Every animal you sell needs matching official ear tags and a full passport, with your name, signature and the movement-off date entered before it leaves, plus a holding register entry within 36 hours. The move must be reported within 3 days, and you stay responsible even if the market reports it. In England most cattle need a negative TB test within 60 days, animals for slaughter need food chain information, and live cattle sales are generally zero-rated for VAT. Give the buyer a plain sales invoice.
The core is the same every time. Each animal needs its official ear tags, a full passport, an entry in your holding register and a movement report to the national database. What changes by route is what travels with the animals on top.
| Route | What goes with the animals | Who reports the move |
|---|---|---|
| Private sale to another farm | Passport, TB test evidence where needed, your sales invoice | You report the move off, the buyer the move on |
| Market | Passport, TB test evidence where needed, the market's entry form | The market may report, but you must check |
| Direct to slaughter | Passport, food chain information, your invoice | The abattoir may report, but you must check |
That is the England and Wales picture as of October 2026. Scotland and Northern Ireland use different systems, set out in our guide to ScotEID, EIDCymru and NIFAIS. My advice is to put each consignment's passports, TB paperwork and invoice in one folder the day before. Most sale-day trouble is a document nobody could find.
GOV.UK says you must not move any live cattle, bison or buffalo without a full passport. Before the animal leaves, enter the movement-off date and your name and signature in the movement history section, using a continuation sheet if it is full.
Check the details against the animal. If the sex or date of birth is wrong, return the passport to BCMS immediately for a free correction; you cannot move the animal until the corrected passport is back. Look at passports well before sale day, not at the loading ramp.
The holding register is separate. In England and Wales update it within 36 hours of each movement; Scotland allows 48 hours, according to the Scottish Government cattle guidance. Our holding register guide covers the fields and retention. If a passport never arrived or is lost, see lost, damaged and missing cattle passports.
In Great Britain a cattle movement is reported within 3 days: to BCMS in England and Wales, and to ScotEID in Scotland. Wales is due to move from BCMS to EIDCymru from November 2026, so use BCMS until you are told otherwise.
Markets and slaughterhouses often report for you, but as the keeper you are still legally responsible for movements being notified on time. Ask before the sale whether they will report your animals. If not, you do it. Keep the online receipt or telephone reference number, because GOV.UK says no receipt means the report failed. The cattle movement 3-day rule guide has the nation-by-nation detail.
Standstill runs alongside. If you have bought in cattle, sheep or goats, others on the holding generally cannot leave for 6 days in England and Wales, with direct movement to slaughter exempt. Check that before promising a sale date.
In England, yes, and it is the first thing buyers ask. Cattle need a negative pre-movement test within 60 days before they move unless exempt. GOV.UK says the 60 days run from the injection date; a move to Scotland needs the test within 30 days. You arrange and pay for it privately with your vet.
Exemptions include calves under 42 days old, cattle from 4-yearly herds in England and direct-to-slaughter moves. Keep exemption evidence for 3 years and the TB52c chart for 3 years and 60 days; buyers often ask to see the chart.
A herd under TB restriction cannot move cattle without an APHA licence. Apply for a TB movement licence, which can take up to 5 working days, so plan around that, not the market date. Our bovine TB testing and movement rules guide has the detail, and the rules change often, so check GOV.UK or ask your vet.
Animals going for slaughter need a declaration from you called food chain information. It covers health, that the holding is not under movement restrictions, and that withdrawal periods were observed. Business Companion, the Trading Standards guide, says if you take animals to an abattoir you must supply food chain information, which may be sent 24 hours in advance. If it is missing, the Official Veterinarian decides whether slaughter proceeds. For animals bought at market, declarations must be obtained from all previous keepers, so keep what you were given.
The declaration is only as good as your medicine records. Before signing, check every animal for a dose whose withdrawal end date falls after the sale date, counting from the last dose. Our guides on withdrawal periods and the Red Tractor medicine book show how to record it.
If you sell as assured, Red Tractor requires a 90-day residency for cattle, and market-bought cattle can be sold as assured only if the market is assured.
Live cattle sold for food are generally zero-rated. HMRC says live animals qualify if they are of a kind generally used in the UK, or yielding or producing food for human consumption, and lists meat and dairy animals. Horses are standard-rated.
Zero-rated is not outside VAT. The sale still counts towards taxable turnover, as our farm VAT registration threshold guide explains, and the flat rate scheme guide covers the addition if you are in that scheme.
You need no VAT invoice for a zero-rated sale, but my advice is to issue a plain sales invoice: sequential number, date, buyer, number of head, tag numbers or a batch reference, and the price. See the farm invoice requirements guide. If a market or abattoir prepares the paperwork, read it, because who counts as seller for VAT depends on the arrangement. Ask the auctioneer or your accountant.
A buyer needs to prove the animals are what they say:
The usual traps: a tag lost since the passport was issued, where GOV.UK says to fit replacement tags within 28 days and not move the animal until it is done; a calf still waiting on its passport; a wrong date of birth; or a keeper who thought the market was reporting. An animal holding a notice of registration cannot be sold on, as our guide to cattle without a passport explains. The buyer's side is in what to check when buying cattle.
FarmHQ is a farm office app for UK cattle and sheep farms, in beta. Ask Farmer Joe drafts the movement report and you confirm it. It is free to start; see pricing.
Each animal needs its official ear tags and a full passport with your movement-off entry signed. In England you also need a negative TB test within 60 days unless an exemption applies, and whatever entry form the market asks for. Check with the market whether it will report the movement to BCMS, because you stay legally responsible.
The market may report for you, but GOV.UK says you remain legally responsible for the movement being notified on time. Ask before the sale whether the market is reporting your animals. If it is not, report the move yourself within 3 days, and keep the receipt or reference number as proof.
Live cattle sold for food are generally zero-rated, so you do not add VAT, but the sale still counts towards your taxable turnover for the registration threshold. Horses are standard-rated. If you are in the Agricultural Flat Rate Scheme, a 4 percent addition may apply to sales to VAT-registered buyers, so check the scheme rules.
It is a declaration the keeper gives the slaughterhouse for animals going for meat. It confirms the animals' health, that the holding is not under movement restrictions, and that withdrawal periods have been observed. It can travel with the animals or be sent 24 hours in advance, and the Official Veterinarian decides what happens if it is missing.