VAT for dummies

[Davidkw]

Hi

Does anyone have any advice on how to start the whole process of reclaiming VAT. When to start ? what to record? when to submit ? etc Any advice welcome 

[Dreadnaught]

Welcome @Davidkw.

 

A couple of places to start: https://www.gov.uk/vat-building-new-home , https://www.gov.uk/vat-building-new-home/eligibility, https://www.gov.uk/vat-building-new-home/how-to-claim.

 

We also have a large and well-maintained  thread on the forum here about the VAT reclaim process but I believe that you need a few more posts (to be an established member) before you can have access to that. @newhome in particular is very knowledgeable on the subject. 

 

And @JSHarris has a sample claim spreadsheet that he has provided to some others here.

 

Some members, including @jack, are following current cases about exactly what triggers the 3-month clock on claiming after the completion of a build.

 

And there are some companies various members have used to assist in the process (for a fee). @joe90 has used one recently for example.

Edited October 14, 2019 by Dreadnaught

[joe90]

7 minutes ago, Davidkw said:

Hi

Does anyone have any advice on how to start the whole process of reclaiming VAT. When to start ? what to record? when to submit ? etc Any advice welcome 

 

I have just had mine done by a VAT accountant and he was brilliant, he also had a VAT solicitor who oversaw my claim and recovered another £800 (minus fee). Others on here have used him and got good results. I simply supplied all my receipts in no particular order, he even contacted some suppliers who did not supply a proper VAT receipt (that I had not noticed) to get the right paperwork. It scared me that HMRC will fine you if you make an error (something I am very likely to do) so it was paying the relatively small fee to get it done properly. His fee was more than recovered by it being done properly. Andrew Jones  the VAT man Ltd.

[Davidkw]

Just now, Dreadnaught said:

Welcome @Davidkw.

 

A couple of places to start: https://www.gov.uk/vat-building-new-home , https://www.gov.uk/vat-building-new-home/eligibility, https://www.gov.uk/vat-building-new-home/how-to-claim.

 

We also have a large and well-maintained  thread on the forum here about the VAT reclaim process but I believe that you need a few more posts (to be an established member) before you can have access to that. @newhome in particular is very knowledgeable on the subject.

 

And @JSHarris has a sample claim spreadsheet that has provided to some others here.

 

Some members, including @jack, is following current cases about exactly what triggers the 3-month clock on claiming after the completion of a build.

 

And there are some companies various members have used to assist in the process (for a fee). @joe90 has used on recently.

Thank you so much for your prompt reply. I shall certainly be following these suggestions up. 

[Jeremy Harris]

32 minutes ago, Dreadnaught said:

And @JSHarris has a sample claim spreadsheet that he has provided to some others here.

 

 

 

 

Here's the spreadsheet version of the VAT form (which is acceptable to HMRC):  VAT Claim Form 431 - Blank - extra sheets added.xls

[ragg987]

2 hours ago, joe90 said:

It scared me that HMRC will fine you if you make an error

Understandable. I claimed a couple of extra items in error (receipts had claimable and non-claimable items), they spotted and just adjusted the claim. I got a strongly worded letter about it but that was it.

[nod]

We have just done ours quite easy 

Just followed the forum Guide

[newhome]

7 hours ago, joe90 said:

It scared me that HMRC will fine you if you make an error

 

I haven't seen any evidence that they have done this for some time but they reserve the right to. I suspect that if you make a couple of genuine mistakes you wouldn't get fined. I imagine they would be more likely to fine you if you tried it on, or tried to reclaim VAT on a stack of ineligible items, services, VAT incorrectly charged etc. 

[Davidkw]

On 14/10/2019 at 16:51, nod said:

We have just done ours quite easy 

Just followed the forum Guide

 

Hi, please could you add a link to the guide. Thank you/

[Gone West]

9 minutes ago, Davidkw said:

 

Hi, please could you add a link to the guide. Thank you/

I may be wrong but I don't think the guide is accessible until you've made ten posts.

[Davidkw]

Ok, thank you I will keep a look out. 

 

[nod]

2 minutes ago, PeterStarck said:

I may be wrong but I don't think the guide is accessible until you've made ten posts.

Correct Peter 

 

if you have recently completed 

I’m sure you could make ten posts 

 

We thought that there would have been all sorts that where rejected 

In fact our claim was paid to the exact penny that was requested 

While there is plenty of info online 

The forum has condensed this into what is relevant to all of us 

Which makes it a laborious but easy task to claim 

 

one thing we did do was to make copy’s of all invoices 

This took longer than doing the claim request 

[Davidkw]

We haven't put a spade in the ground yet ..... Im just trying to be as organised as possible. 

[nod]

25 minutes ago, Davidkw said:

We haven't put a spade in the ground yet ..... Im just trying to be as organised as possible. 

Wow

Now that is organised 

[newhome]

1 hour ago, Davidkw said:

 

Hi, please could you add a link to the guide. Thank you/

 

As above you need 10 posts to see it but here is the link. It will magically appear when you hit 10 ?

 

 

Do you have CIL? If so I’d be more concerned about that to begin with as there are things you MUST do BEFORE putting a spade in the ground. Happy days if you don’t. 

[newhome]

And it’s way easier if you prepare everything for the eventual VAT claim as you go along. Saves a lot of time at the end and helps with the discipline of checking everything is ok from the get go as invoicing errors / queries are much easier to deal with when they happen than a year or more down the line. I used to use the early evening on a Sunday night to keep all the accounts and budgeting up to date. Paid off when I came to claim. 

[Jeremy Harris]

13 minutes ago, newhome said:

And it’s way easier if you prepare everything for the eventual VAT claim as you go along. Saves a lot of time at the end and helps with the discipline of checking everything is ok from the get go as invoicing errors / queries are much easier to deal with when they happen than a year or more down the line. I used to use the early evening on a Sunday night to keep all the accounts and budgeting up to date. Paid off when I came to claim. 

 

 

+100 to this ^^^

 

I dearly wish I'd had the foresight (and time) to organise all the receipts into a VAT-friendly filing system as I went along, rather than stuff them all in a box until I came to make the VAT claim around 3 years later...

[Bitpipe]

14 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

 

 

+100 to this ^^^

 

I dearly wish I'd had the foresight (and time) to organise all the receipts into a VAT-friendly filing system as I went along, rather than stuff them all in a box until I came to make the VAT claim around 3 years later...

Ah sure where’s the fun in that   I quite enjoyed reacquainting myself with vendors from 3 years previously .... I had nothing much planned for those three solid weekends anyway...

[ToughButterCup]

                          ?

No excuse for sleep here at GCN Central.

[Barney12]

2 hours ago, newhome said:

And it’s way easier if you prepare everything for the eventual VAT claim as you go along. Saves a lot of time at the end and helps with the discipline of checking everything is ok from the get go as invoicing errors / queries are much easier to deal with when they happen than a year or more down the line. I used to use the early evening on a Sunday night to keep all the accounts and budgeting up to date. Paid off when I came to claim. 

 

If you're really sad* you also have a column on your spreadsheet to record payment method (card, BACS, PayPal etc) and then another column that records its reconciled to said statement of said payment method. By ticking back said statements you also catch anything you've paid for where a receipt/invoice has gone astray.

 

*I'm referring to a friend of mine. Honest, I've not done this, really honestly. 

 

[newhome]

11 minutes ago, Barney12 said:

 

If you're really sad* you also have a column on your spreadsheet to record payment method (card, BACS, PayPal etc) and then another column that records its reconciled to said statement of said payment method. By ticking back said statements you also catch anything you've paid for where a receipt/invoice has gone astray.

 

*I'm referring to a friend of mine. Honest, I've not done this, really honestly. 

 

 

A friend of mine did that too ?. 

 

HMRC say that they might ask for proof of payment so it was to cover that too as I used a multitude of credit cards during the build offering cash back, air miles et al. 

[Mike_scotland]

Does anyone know if you can claim scaffold  containers chemical toilet etc for a self build can you claim that back free of vat?

 

I believe you cant do hire costs but just wondering for things I could hire would I be able to buy them and reclaim?

 

Thanks

 

Mike

[Jeremy Harris]

24 minutes ago, Mike_scotland said:

Does anyone know if you can claim scaffold  containers chemical toilet etc for a self build can you claim that back free of vat?

 

I believe you cant do hire costs but just wondering for things I could hire would I be able to buy them and reclaim?

 

Thanks

 

Mike

 

 

The general rule is that you can only reclaim VAT on items that are incorporated in the build, so you cannot claim VAT on purchased scaffolding, containers, Portaloos etc, but if you bought a loo, plumbed it in temporarily as a site toilet, then later included it in the build, that should be OK.

[Ed Davies]

Also, you can't reclaim on labour but you should be able to get it zero rated so if you hire scaffolding and have the company erect and dismantle it you can usefully get them to split the invoice out into labour (zero rate) and hire (full VAT).

[Temp]

First step is read the other threads on this forum!

 

Then buy a lot of plastic inserts for ring binders to put reciepts in (or similar storage that keeps them in date order.)

 

Labor - zero rated to you, VAT paid in error cannot be reclaimed.

 

Materials you buy - VAT can be reclaimed.

 

Mixed (supply and fit) both materials and labour must be zero rated to you.

 

Tool hire - VAT is charged and cannot be reclaimed.

 

Any doubt ask here before you accept a quote.