VAT Reclaim journey

[Benpointer]

18 hours ago, Russell griffiths said:

The wife has just finished our vat claim

 

i will see your 161 invoices @Benpointer and raise you 1057 invoices 

anybody had a larger amount than this. 

 Jeepers, that's a lot of invoices!

 

We finally got an initial response from HMRC just over a month after the initial submission:

 

"You are not named on the planning permission. Please provide evidence such as your Building Agreement, Purchase Contract, handover documents, land transfer documentation etc; to show when you acquired the Property/Land."

 

This is because our planning consultant was sent the planning approval.  Anyway, we've now uploaded several further docs to show we own the plot, we're the actual planning applicant etc.  

 

So we wait another month, I guess...

 

 

[-rick-]

1 minute ago, Benpointer said:

"You are not named on the planning permission. Please provide evidence such as your Building Agreement, Purchase Contract, handover documents, land transfer documentation etc; to show when you acquired the Property/Land."

 

Ah joined up government! You'd have thought they would be plugged in to the land registry and could see if you are the registered owner there before writing that email. Costs everyone more time to deal with the email and response.

[Alan Ambrose]

Yeah, they didn’t bother to check Companies House when making Covid loans.

[Nickfromwales]

5 hours ago, -rick- said:

 

Ah joined up government! You'd have thought they would be plugged in to the land registry and could see if you are the registered owner there before writing that email. Costs everyone more time to deal with the email and response.

That would be sensible, ergo “not going to happen any time soon”…..  🤦‍♂️

[Nickfromwales]

2 hours ago, Alan Ambrose said:

Yeah, they didn’t bother to check Companies House when making Covid loans.

£10k “grants” handed out like sweets. Ffs. 

[miike]

On 24/07/2026 at 16:47, Benpointer said:

 Jeepers, that's a lot of invoices!

 

We finally got an initial response from HMRC just over a month after the initial submission:

 

"You are not named on the planning permission. Please provide evidence such as your Building Agreement, Purchase Contract, handover documents, land transfer documentation etc; to show when you acquired the Property/Land."

 

This is because our planning consultant was sent the planning approval.  Anyway, we've now uploaded several further docs to show we own the plot, we're the actual planning applicant etc.  

 

So we wait another month, I guess...

 

 

 

I re-read the email and noticed that it only gives two options for sending documents - online via their website portal, or by post. And if they haven't got the docs in a month they'll reject the claim. 

 

I'd replied to the email with the documents attached to it, but realised they could technically ignore it and reject the claim after a month as I hadn't provided the documents via their listed methods. Just gone to the portal and uploaded the additional docs that way to be safe. 

[Benpointer]

On 28/07/2026 at 12:22, miike said:

 

I re-read the email and noticed that it only gives two options for sending documents - online via their website portal, or by post. And if they haven't got the docs in a month they'll reject the claim. 

 

I'd replied to the email with the documents attached to it, but realised they could technically ignore it and reject the claim after a month as I hadn't provided the documents via their listed methods. Just gone to the portal and uploaded the additional docs that way to be safe. 

 Checks... Yes I uploaded the documents via the portal. 

 

Given HMRC exists to serve* us all, why do they make it so bloody difficult to claim what is legally due with regard to self-build VAT?

 

(On other matters, income tax, IHT, I have always found HMRC staff very helpful.)

[miike]

On 30/07/2026 at 16:52, Benpointer said:

 Checks... Yes I uploaded the documents via the portal. 

 

Given HMRC exists to serve* us all, why do they make it so bloody difficult to claim what is legally due with regard to self-build VAT?

 

(On other matters, income tax, IHT, I have always found HMRC staff very helpful.)

 

Have you heard anything back from them? I'm at 2+ months since submission and haven't even been asked for copies of invoices yet. 

[Benpointer]

On 16/08/2026 at 20:21, miike said:

 

Have you heard anything back from them? I'm at 2+ months since submission and haven't even been asked for copies of invoices yet. 

Nothing yet.  Over two months for me now as well.  Going to call them tomorrow.  

 

According to Gemini:  Yes, you can chase your progress by calling the dedicated HMRC DIY and House Building VAT Enquiries Team on 0300 322 7073.

[Benpointer]

Update:  I called the HMRC DIY and House Building VAT Enquiries Team on 0300 322 7073.  20 minute wait then I managed to cut myself off! 😱 but called again and got straight through. 

 

Helpful guy explained that they are currently dealing with the 20th July claims and ours should be looked at this week, as we returned the additional information on 21st July.  

 

For us it looks like the process has been / is:  

• Submitted the online claim on 19 June.
• That got looked at on 21 July and they then asked for proof that the planning approval was really for us (the approval was addressed to our planning consultant).  Annoying.
• I submitted the additional evidence the same day (21 July).
• But we are then back in the processing queue and will not be looked at until this coming week (5 weeks).
• Assuming they accept that the planning was definitely for us, they should then ask for 10-15 invoices, according to the agent.
• Once they get those, if there are no issues they will approve the claim and pay within about 5 weeks (he said).
• If we are in financial difficulty we can ask for the claim to be prioritised (which I don't plan to do as we're not, and I don't like the idea of queuing jumping at the expense of others but if we were genuinely in difficulty it's a useful option to be aware of).

I'll keep you all posted.

[Benpointer]

Update:  I received an email today from HMRC requesting 10 invoices, the 9 largest plus, oddly, the 12 largest by VAT amount.

 

It's a bit tedious finding and uploading the pdfs requested, but that's all done now so fingers-crossed it all progresses smoothly from here.  5 weeks to wait if there arte no issues, apparently.

 

On the plus side, HMRC must be satisfied by our answer to their planning query.   Also, the helpful agent I spoke to yesterday was spot-on with his comment that our claim was about to be looked at (or else he pulled it from the list and got it looked at, if we're taking a cynical view!).