VAT invoice - Required?

[rich998]

Hi all. I need to confirm something.

We pay rent to our landlord of 3 years for our business premises. Both the landlord and ourselves are VAT registered.

Problem we have is that we have not received and invoices for the last 2 years and I am concerned about this. We've always paid the rent, mainly by BACS/Fast payment.

In my eyes, we could be in trouble here. What should I do about this.

 

[roydmoorian]

Very few types of rent attract V.A.T. so, as long as you have not been claiming V.A.T. back out of your regular payments as specified in your rental agreement then there should be no problem. If the rental agreement specifies that V.A.T. is inclusive then your landlord should certainly be supplying proper V.A.T. invoices at least once a year.

A certified accountant could give you a definitive answer and I am sure there will be one along shortly.

 

[Spongebob]

There are some very dodgy landlords around.

I rented premises for many years from just such a one. Initially I received VAT invoices every quarter but after his in-house accountant left for pastures new they dried up completely and although I was being charged VAT on the rent and service charge I had no invoices with which to make a reclaim from HMRC. Repeated requests for VAT invoices got me nowhere; clearly he was fiddling his own books so that minimal payments to HMRC had to be made.

I had to resort to producing my own invoices on Excel using a template constructed from one of the few genuine ones I had received.

This was clearly unlawful but it did enable me to reclaim tens of thousands of pounds worth of VAT that I paid to this character over a fifteen year period.

When I eventually left and liquidated the company I took great delight in taking my landlord for upwards of thirty grand!

 

[Helmut]

Rich 998,

It is only necessary for your landlord to issue VAT invoices if the rent is subject to VAT. It will only be subjet to VAT if the landlord has opted to tax its interest in the property. You therefore need to enquire if this is the case and take it from there.

Regardless, there is no issue for you, provided that you have not recovered any VAT on the rental payments. Whatever you do, do not create your own VAT invoices as stated above. Contrary to what Sponge Bob states, this does not enable you to recover VAT. The only point that is correct is that it is unlawful....

 

[Spongebob]

Regardless, there is no issue for you, provided that you have not recovered any VAT on the rental payments. Whatever you do, do not create your own VAT invoices as stated above. Contrary to what Sponge Bob states, this does not enable you to recover VAT. The only point that is correct is that it is unlawful....

I wasn't suggesting that anyone followed my lead; I was merely recounting an anecdote.

While fabricating my own invoices might not have entitled me to reclaim VAT, it most certainly enabled me to do so. During this period I had several inspections by VAT officers, none of whom questioned the invoices.

By far the greater uinlawful act was that of my landlord. My lease stated that all rents and service charges were subject to VAT - yet he was clearly not declaring the VAT element to HMCE (as it was in those days). Why should my business have to have suffered because of my landlord's dishonesty?