Reply to: Lots Of Questions From VAT man

[Ivor1]

I went through a similar experience when myCo registered for VAT (although this was in 2005). It took them 10 days between receiving some appropriate documentation to issuing the VAT registration certificate.

Thanks heres hopping, its been about 8 days now

[Gonzo]

How long from sending the extra info to them did it take you to hear back from them ?

Thanks

I went through a similar experience when myCo registered for VAT (although this was in 2005). It took them 10 days between receiving some appropriate documentation to issuing the VAT registration certificate.

[Ivor1]

They messed me about a bit when I was registering in July. My accountant created an invoice for me that showed his fees for the next twelve months. I also sent them a letter from the bank thanking me for setting up a business bank account with them. I followed this up with a phone call and that did the trick.

How long from sending the extra info to them did it take you to hear back from them ?

Thanks

[Darren@UptonAccountants]

Vat

It may well be, but in the main it is to do with the large number of fraud cases that have been instigated over the last 12 months. The EU have lost billions in lost revenue through various fraud schemes so they're a bit more cautious about issuing new numbers.

The processing time has come down in recent months, was up to 10 weeks at one point, our local office is now down to between 4-6 weeks.....still pretty poor!

[Robwg]

I have just registered for VAT - apparently one of the reasons they ask all these questions (according to my accountant - SJD) is that the VAT office are currently hugely backlogged and it is a bit of a delaying tactic if you are already trading (which I am).

[oraclesmith]

It's OK, I don't need to know anyway.

[Joe Black]

Emm...I think the best answer I can post here is 'possibly not', without going into too much detail.

[oraclesmith]

I guess so. But wouldn't they just have to look up one number and find out it's valid but fictitious to cast suspicion on the rest ?

[Joe Black]

I guess the concern is that with things like carousel/intra-eu fraud, being able to readily put down a few hundred valid numbers from other countries, on your EU sales form for example, makes it more difficult for them to flag up a problem.

[oraclesmith]

I don't see the point of hiding the algorithm. If someone wanted to defraud the VAT they could easily startup a small limited company, like our Ivor1 here and buy a few things, thus getting a genuine number. Or you could appropriate a genuine one from a small company. They're everywhere - invoices, receipts, websites, stationery. The big VAT frauds are on missing trader sequences, which are done through genuine companies.

[Joe Black]

Pirate, is this how you managed to retire to the Caribbean ?
BTW, a lot of our Aussie/Kiwi 'cousins' are experts in that (fake VAT nos)

Not exactly hard since the UK has a very simple way of generating the number and includes only a very simple checksum. The main idea being that any company trading with someone new should verify the other details, company name/address etc, by calling a free-phone number they have.

Various other EU countries though have a very hush, hush policy on their VAT numbers because the number itself is considered almost like a hash to show that it's genuine.

[CaribbeanPirate]

Pirate, is this how you managed to retire to the Caribbean ?

Maybe.

BTW, a lot of our Aussie/Kiwi 'cousins' are experts in that (fake VAT nos)

Actually, this is what I was thinking of.

[oraclesmith]

No No & Thrice NO - I did this and ended up being inspected - issues - if you issue back dated VAT invoice no guarantee of payment but you will be liable.

That was silly. Whatever possessed you to do that ? Surely there's no financial benefit in doing it. You can still reclaim input VAT when you register and the HMRC won't require you to collect VAT until you register or reach the threshold whichever comes first.

[Troll]

I recon it will take 8 months to hit the threashold, if I'm not regsitered for VAT during the time, once I hit the threashold will I have to back date it to cover the last eight month I didnt charge it ?

No No & Thrice NO - I did this and ended up being inspected - issues - if you issue back dated VAT invoice no guarantee of payment but you will be liable.
Also:
VAT man will say you should have added 'VAT registration applied for' onto your invoices and charged from the outset.
He will then show amount of money not paid to HM in previous quarters (and take it as lost revenue for HMG) add daily interest to outstanding amount and just for good measure compound the interest - doesn't sound fair - well it happened to me!

[Ivor1]

It was only because my agency were insisting on VAT certifcate before issuing contract, the agency have now backed down now.