What date do you book VAT?

[Chart Accountancy]

If you account for your vat on sales, when you issue the invoice, then you need to account for vat on purchases based on the invoice date. This is the invoice basis. You will know if you are on the cash basis, but if you are asking this question, you are likely to be on the invoice basis which is the default position unless you opt to account under the cash accounting.

[Darren at Fox-Bartfield]

VAT

Cash accounting tends to be the most popular and appropriate method of calculating the VAT, in effect being the date you paid/received amounts.

[Eirikur]

The day you pay or the day you receive the VAT invoice?

I book hotels well in advance at the lowest cost which normally means you have to pay immediately and you can't cancel the booking meaning the payment is non refundable, but I don't receive the invoice until I completed my stay, the invoices have usually the date the stay was completed on them

(not asking my accountant because we have this forum)