back dated VAT registration

[Az karim]

Morning all

Can you back date voluntary VAT registration?

If so how far back can you go?

Thanks

Az

 

[DJR51]

Yes you can - and you can generally go back up to 4 years, although HMRC will need to agree to the backdating.

 

[UK Contractor Accountant]

Why do you want to backdate?


If you have not started trading yet there is no need to backdate the registration as vat on goods and purchased within the last 4 years can be recovered on your first VAT return. This is obviously so long as they're still on hand at the date of registration. For any services it's a six month window prior to registration.

If you backdate and are required to re-issue to sales invoices to customers then you may find it difficult to get the extra 20% paid by the customers, especially if they are not vat registered themselves.

 

[Az karim]

I have incurred vat on invoices relating to advertising and marketing. I have not yet invoiced any sales. Dose this matter?

 

[DJR51]

That's good news - it means backdating the registration won't require you to re-issue sales invoices or request extra payments from your customers. Therefore the only impact of backdating the registration will be that you can recover the VAT on expenses.

As UK contractor accountant states above, you can also reclaim "pre-registration input VAT" as well. Therefore in addition to backdating the registration, you can also reclaim VAT incurred 4 years (for goods) and 6 months (for services) prior to the date of registration. In essence, this means in theory you can reclaim VAT on goods purchased up to 8 years ago, provided you still have the goods in the business, and have evidence of paying VAT on the purchase.