having problems with first vat return

[julieanne4]

hello all

I am currently trying to submit 1st vat return, Company established in 2004, vat registered from 1st nov 08. I am trying to reclaim the vat back on purchases made before vat registration (2 vans, 1 pc & Advertising costs) have been told by hmrc that we can claim these back..

Question - How do I record these on the vat return and do I record them on sage - I only started using sage from 1/11/08 so if I put previous purchases on surely it will make my figures incorrect?

Thanks

Julie

[elainec100@cheapaccounting]

you will need to do a journal for the vat claimed prior to registration - just the vat amount will be in the journal

[Kevin Hall]

Hi Julie-Anne

Presumably you are aware of this guidance from HMRC, restricting what VAT on pre-registration purchases can be reclaimed (e.g. 6 months of relevant services, but 3 years of goods still owned by the business at the date of VAT registration).

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageLibrary_PublicNoticesAndInfoSheets&propertyType=document&columns=1&id=HMCE_CL_001596#P935_77571

As for vans, my instincts tell me that this can be a tricky area for VAT recovery. Certainly there are blocks to recovering VAT on cars where these are "available" for provate use; but vans would need more researching. If you get no joy on here, it might be worth calling HMRC's National Advice Service.

Hope it helps?