How to obtain VAT number of a company if they won't tell you.

[Pondlife]

Works with mine.

[expat]

Stop asking the same question and look at it from a different angle.
1. Is this a proper company ie legally registered in Companies House ?
2. If the answer is yes, then invest £10-20 and get their accounts. Not 100% sure if the VAT no is shown in there. Unlike Co. Ho. there isn't a central register with all Vat nos as there is with Reg nos

Isn't oraclesmith right though? If you didn't get an invoice with a VAT number on it, then you didn't get a VAT invoice, then you are not entitled to reclaim VAT, even if you happen to find out the VAT number otherwise? Just asking.

[malvolio]

Isn't oraclesmith right though? If you didn't get an invoice with a VAT number on it, then you didn't get a VAT invoice, then you are not entitled to reclaim VAT, even if you happen to find out the VAT number otherwise? Just asking.

True - so you have been overcharged by 17.5% (several times, by the sound of it)

Next question - given the company has done so, how do you propose getting it back? I suggest an invoice for the balance would probably go unpaid...

[MarillionFan]

FFS Threaded. You keep banging on about how you get it. If they wont give it to you, you cant. But you seem to have got stuck here, thinking that they have a VAT Number!!! If it aint on the invoice and they've charged you VAT, but then wont give you the number, then obviously they've ripped you off and you obviously seem incapable of dealing with Government institutions or whistle blowing then its tough isnt it.

'But how does that help me' bleated Threaded.

It doesnt. Tough.

[darmstadt]

When I had an Ltd. in th eUK I used to send out invoices without a VAT number and they were totally legal. As the IR had not issued it in time all I had to do was state that the number had been applied for.

[ASB]

When I had an Ltd. in th eUK I used to send out invoices without a VAT number and they were totally legal. As the IR had not issued it in time all I had to do was state that the number had been applied for.

They were not VAT invoices though. You cannot charge vat (I assume you were not) until you have actually been registered. At this point you need to send vat only invoices for the supplies you made since application - since that is when the registration is backdated to. This is why you put "applied for" on the invoice.

If you are dealing with the public - who are generally not vat registered - then it's best to avoid ending up in this position.

[johnfirst]

How to obtain VAT number of a company if they won't tell you

So nobody answered the actual question, what a pity.
I too would like to know the answer and still searching. Occasionally it can appear on their website but not often. It's easy to get a company registration number just log on to Companies House website but getting a company VAT number from the internet seems impossible. (So far anyway).

[MarillionFan]

Bump. Did anyone ever find out a way/process for this?

[NotAllThere]

If you have a full VAT invoice, you can claim back the VAT. A VAT invoice must fulfil a number of criteria, including having a (valid?) VAT number on it. If you do not have such an invoice then, strictly, you can't claim it back. Though most of us do. And it normally isn't a problem.

Total absence of a VAT number is a bit of hint that all is not well.

What you should do then is inform HMRC what's happened. But you've lost the 17.5%

At least, that's my reading of it.

[SueEllen]

The only thing you can do is call HMRC and ask if the company is VAT registered.

You cannot ask for the company's VAT number though due to Data Protection and the fact that you may have alerted them to company they want to investigate.