Elan want Bank Statements?

[NotAllThere]

If you are VAT registered, you are obliged to pay VAT on your earnings, so HMRC will expect to receive it. I guess you're obliged to charge it on your invoices, or else pay it out of your profits.

You do not pay VAT on your (company's) earnings. That is entirely the wrong way to look at it. Do you pay VAT on bank interest retrieved?

[Sysman]

If I'm VAT registered, why should I listen to an agent who tells me not to charge them VAT? Am I not obligated to charge it?

Yes you are obligated to charge it, unless supplying zero rated or exempt goods. HMRC link.

[malvolio]

But, in my opinion asking for your bank details is way out of order. They should only ask for your certificate of incorporation, your VAT cert if you have one and they should do a Companies House check to see if you are a director of the company and if they want to make super sure, a reference.

Anything else, tell them to do a running jump.

Ermm...

So if you don't give your agency your bank account details, how do you intend getting paid? Phlogiston, perhaps? The account name and number are hardly state secrets, are they?

This thread is getting totally unreal. Jeez, we're supposed to be businesses, not schoolkids, so FFS start thinking like one. Your company accounts are public knowledge anyway, if you start getting all secretive your clients are going to start getting suspicious that all is not above board.

[Not So Wise]

You are not understanding some things malvolio,

Elan is asking for a copy of a bank statement, which one should never provide to anyone but another financial institution (aka looking for loan or opening another account) not just your paying in details,this combined with the other information they are asking for is more than enough to perform identity theft

And to make things worse they are asking for it before a contract is offered

Elan have been on my "crap" list for a long time, this latest development moves them to my "do not touch with a barge pole" list

if you start getting all secretive your clients are going to start getting suspicious that all is not above board.

And the reverse is also true, if the client or in this case the agency (which is worse as if anything goes wrong we all know the agency will just fold with no chance for us to get recompense) starts demanding information they have no reason to need the contractor should get very suspicious.

And could you imagine what identity thieves would pay after a while for Elans files? hundreds, even thousands files, all containing enough information to easily perform identity theft, all most likely being medium to high net worth individuals. Would you trust any agency to have the policys and security to make sure that would not happen? I most certainly would not

And very disapointed at jobserve over this, sure they put the warning about providing these details up but they continue to accept Elan posting jobs knowing that they are demanding this kind of information. If they banned them Elan would very rapidly do a U-turn because without jobserve they would rapidly go out of business

[expat]

...And very disapointed at jobserve over this, sure they put the warning about providing these details up but they continue to accept Elan posting jobs knowing that they are demanding this kind of information. If they banned them Elan would very rapidly do a U-turn because without jobserve they would rapidly go out of business

Without Elan and their like, jobserve would rapidly go out of business. Any time you're tempted by a warm fuzzy feeling about jobserve, just remember that they are bought and sold.

[Badger]

Interesting Non-Job:

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Ref: JSJ24228A00025759