VAT
Are you including too much income in your calculations?
Your business is partly exempt and you claim input tax on your mixed costs and general overheads by using the standard method based on turnover splits. What income should you exclude from the calculations?
Homeworking: claiming input tax on subsistence expenses?
Some of your staff work remotely, but their homes aren’t suited to it. You have agreed to pay for rented office space, or for refreshments if they work from, say, a café. Can you claim input tax on these expenses?
Can you claim input tax on costs linked to electric cars?
Your business intends to go green and buy new electric cars. Can you claim input tax on the purchase of the vehicles and their subsequent fuel costs? Additionally, what recent change has been announced by HMRC?
Budget 2025: the key announcements
The Chancellor announced many changes to the tax system, with some coming into effect immediately and others in several years. What are the headline changes?
Paying VAT when cash is tight
Your business has suffered a major cash-flow problem caused by an unexpected bad debt. Your VAT return is due for payment and you do not have enough funds to pay on time. What can you do?
Can you claim input tax without a VAT invoice?
One of our clientss cannot provide a tax invoice to HMRC to support an input tax claim on the purchase of machinery three years ago. What alternative evidence should be acceptable to the officer?
Changes to registration threshold?
It’s rumoured that the Chancellor will raise the VAT registration threshold from £90,000 to £120,000 to stimulate economic growth. But other reports suggest it could be cut to £30,000 to raise revenue. What would these changes mean for your business?
When should you submit a protective claim to HMRC?
Your business has charged VAT on some sales but a recent tribunal decision has indicated that the goods are zero-rated according to the law. Should you submit a claim to HMRC for a rebate on your past sales?
Reverse charge and end user rules: opportunity?
If you sell construction services to other builders, you need to consider the domestic reverse charge rules. You must apply these where your customer is an end user. How might this create a cash-flow advantage?
VAT reduced on advance payment if customer cancels?
A subscriber to our newsletter wrote to us with a query. The business supplies a three-stage training course to students that fully pay (non-refundable) in advance for all three stages. If the students drop out before the end, can our subscriber partly reduce the VAT paid to HMRC on their return?
Flat rate scheme: join now or never?
HMRC recently published a report about the advantages and disadvantages of the flat rate scheme for a small business. Could the report lead to the abolition of the scheme or a ban on new users?
Should you revoke your 20-year-old option?
Your business has let out a building to a tenant and it is now just over 20 years since you opted to tax the property with HMRC. Should you revoke it so that your tenant no longer needs to pay VAT?