Vat? If we are buying materials

[gc100]

Hi,

 

 

I'm probably going down the road of doing my build by paying for labour/time spentsome and paying directly for materials. Will I still be able to claim back the vat in materials? I presume the merchants will want to put 20% on up front?

 

Thanks

[lizzie]

Yes you have to pay the vat and claim it back at the end. Only the supply and fit things will be invoiced without vat.  You will have to cash flow the vat on your materials purchases until you make your vat return. Make sure to keep the receipts safe as you go along.

[Alexphd1]

That's exactly what we have done but I have also bought a lot of material (mvhr, ashp etc) of ebay with no vat . 

[joe90]

Ditto, I paid a builder to do the shell (labour and materials zero VAT) and bought windows and shed loads of other stuff with VAT which I am about to claim back. Yes some stuff on EBay came without a VAT receipt but reckon I saved more than 20% by buying it there.

[gc100]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the answers. Another question : For the receipts/invoices - must it have your surname on the invoice ? 

thanks

Edited June 25, 2019 by gc100
amendment

[newhome]

17 minutes ago, gc100 said:

For the receipts/invoices - must it have your surname on the invoice ? 

 

They must be in your name and not someone else’s (eg your builder). If there is no name on the invoice because it’s more like a receipt from a retail company then there is evidence that HMRC do accept receipts of a lowish value. Do try to restrict these to purchases under £100 if you can though. Most retail places have some way of requesting a full VAT receipt. 

 

[Temp]

Most DIY sheds will give you a hand written vat receipt with your name on it if you ask for one. I think a till receipt on its own is ok if under £30 but check.

[newhome]

8 hours ago, Temp said:

Most DIY sheds will give you a hand written vat receipt with your name on it if you ask for one. I think a till receipt on its own is ok if under £30 but check.

 

I had quite a few that were over £30 and they accepted them but I agree, a VAT receipt is best. Wouldn’t want to risk it for a large amount. 

[vivienz]

I've had reasonable success with contacting ebay sellers for VAT receipts, so it's worth asking.

[newhome]

1 hour ago, vivienz said:

I've had reasonable success with contacting ebay sellers for VAT receipts, so it's worth asking.

 

Yes, VAT registration was one of the things I checked when buying from eBay and I contacted them before purchasing to ask if they could provide a VAT receipt if the listing didn’t say so. 

 

I did buy a few things from eBay from non VAT registered sellers but they needed to be cheap enough to be worth it without the opportunity to reclaim VAT.