Very worried about my overdue VAT!

[messiah]

I met with an accountant today, who explained something about VAT that i previously did not understand (the threshold is applied to the past 12 months) .

Over the past 12 months, i've turned over £110,400
1st April 2017 to 1st April 2018 is £92,100

I am really worried that I now owe an amount of VAT I simply cannot afford. Can anyone give me an idea of what is owed on these 2 periods?

Edit: Since a lot of the inventory purchases are so long ago, I won't be able to claim the VAT back on it?

 

[UK Contractor Accountant]

You need to work out the month you exceeded the VAT threshold on a rolling 12 month basis. You get the next month free and then are required to be registered on the 1st day of the following month.

 

[Mr D]

How did you miss registering for VAT?

HMRC may give you a few months to pay the bill before referring to debt collection. Penalties can be a killer.

 

[Newchodge]

I met with an accountant today, who explained something about VAT that i previously did not understand (the threshold is applied to the past 12 months) .

Over the past 12 months, i've turned over £110,400
1st April 2017 to 1st April 2018 is £92,100

I am really worried that I now owe an amount of VAT I simply cannot afford. Can anyone give me an idea of what is owed on these 2 periods?

Edit: Since a lot of the inventory purchases are so long ago, I won't be able to claim the VAT back on it?

No one can calculate on those figures. June to May 2018 is £110,400, but when did you go over the threshold. Ignore financial years. Count every 12 month period.

 

[KAC]

I met with an accountant today, who explained something about VAT that i previously did not understand (the threshold is applied to the past 12 months) .

Didn't the accountant do the figures for you?

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

I met with an accountant today, who explained something about VAT that i previously did not understand (the threshold is applied to the past 12 months) .

Over the past 12 months, i've turned over £110,400
1st April 2017 to 1st April 2018 is £92,100

I am really worried that I now owe an amount of VAT I simply cannot afford. Can anyone give me an idea of what is owed on these 2 periods?

Edit: Since a lot of the inventory purchases are so long ago, I won't be able to claim the VAT back on it?

When did you actually exceed the VAT threshold, and what have your sales been since that date?

Bear in mind you can recover VAT on expenses and costs from that date and possibly before too. Have a read of this - https://www.gov.uk/vat-registration/purchases-made-before-registration

It may not be as bad as you think but do get it sorted now, don't leave it any longer. HMRC charge penalties for late registration.

 

[Lisa Thomas]

If your accountant hasn't/can't explain this then perhaps you need a new accountant.

 

[Glenn Martin]

This should be no big deal to with really. From your figures I assumed you went over the limited in March 2018. So you get 30 days from them so you would need to register from 1st May 2018.

You can claim VAT on stock and assets you hold on 01.05.2018. You will have to try and re issue vat invoices for sales you have issued in May if that is not possible you will have to swallow the vat and do it properly going forward.

Also your first VAT quarter wont be until 31.07.2018 which needs to be submitted and paid by 07.09.2018 so you have plenty of time to get it sorted.

If you don't know like this you need to outsource your bookkeeping to someone who will support and help your business. A good accountant should also talk to you in a way/level that you understand and be jargon free.

 

[kulture]

Please please don't go by any assumptions. You need to look at the actual figures, and go through them with an accountant who knows what they are doing. The very last thing you need is to make a further mistake and get a VAT inspection which finds it.

 

[KAC]

This should be no big deal to with really. From your figures I assumed you went over the limited in March 2018. So you get 30 days from them so you would need to register from 1st May 2018.

I hope you're right
Unfortunately the OP hasn't provided enough information yet to say that you are
At the moment, you have just made an educated guess

 

[Samuktaxpayer]

I was in a similar position when my previous accountant vanished my new one took over and informed me I had to register and pay backdated VAT for that last 12 months.
I can't remember now as it was some time ago but I think the figure was just under 20k
Fortunately all my customers were businesses and were happy to pay back dated vat invoices and I registered as flat rate vat so I actually made money from it

 

[WAHaccounting]

You will need to go back and review your records. You will need to do a backdated registration to HMRC from the date when you were required to be registered. i.e the end of the calendar month when you exceeded the registration threshold.
You will need to account for the backdated VAT, but if all of your customers are VAT registered then it shouldn't be a big deal for them. They most likely won't mind receiving a VAT only invoice as they can recover it anyway.

I also have to agree with the above post...you need a new accountant.

 

[Gecko001]

I am not an accountant, but the accountant can only go by what he/she has been told. The OP says that turnover has increased by 15% over the last two months. Not every business owner is in contact with their accountant regularly. I only contact mine every year - twice at most if there if their is a problem. Going by the rate of increase in turnover, it looks like the turnover was tiny this time last year. If the OP was keeping the accountant regularly informed of their astronomic rise in turnover month on month then maybe the accountant can be blamed, if not should they be blamed.