Self Build VAT Claim On Machinery Purchase

[Jeremy Harris]

If you have MVHR then all the air in the house will be changed every two hours or so, and the incoming air will be filtered, so the house will generally be a lot less dusty than a conventional house anyway.  The effect of MVHR on reducing the dust level in the house seems pretty dramatic to me, as I'm not one who's too fond of vacuum cleaning.  The house seems to be largely dust free compared to our old house, so doesn't really need as much dust removal at all.

[epsilonGreedy]

1 hour ago, JSHarris said:

The effect of MVHR on reducing the dust level in the house seems pretty dramatic to me, as I'm not one who's too fond of vacuum cleaning.  The house seems to be largely dust free compared to our old house, so doesn't really need as much dust removal at all.

 

 

I reckon you just saved me £1200 - VAT.

[Temp]

There is a way to claim for white goods but you have to find a "free" white goods deal or negotiate one. In reality the value of the white goods is hidden in the total order price. One possible problem with this approach is that free goods may not have the same protection under consumer law. If there is a fault you might be entitled to a replacement but not your money back because they were free.

 

 

[Temp]

Another way to beat the system is to submit landscaping plans with your planning application. Then the VAT on any trees on those plans can be reclaimed.

[Temp]

One common gottcha is with trades that also supply materials... This has come up many times on the forum..

 

Normally labor should be zero rated to you, so no VAT to pay or reclaim on that. However if the tradesman also supplies materials (eg wire, plaster etc) then those materials should also be zero rated to you. This can cause problems if the tradesman has had to pay VAT on the materials when he purchased them.

 

You can't reclaim the VAT because the invoices will be in his name.

 

If he is VAT rated the correct procedure is for him to reduce his quarterly VAT return by the amount of the VAT but he may never have done this before and be reluctant to do so. For this reason you should make sure all quotes include VAT at 0% and make sure they understand before work starts. If you run into problems getting quotes zero rated come back here and we can refer you to the right section of VAT 708. Sometimes it helps to give the tradesman a "certificate" but you don't need to under the rules.

 

If the tradesman isn't registered for VAT you have a problem. Neither of you can reclaim VAT on materials he's purchased. In which case if you really want to use him you will have to purchase the materials yourself to get a VAT receipt in your name and "free issue" the materials to the tradesman.

 

As others have said the VAT situation is complicated. Some you reclaim, some you can't reclaim and some you should never pay in the first place. If you pay VAT in error to a tradesman you can't get the VAT back from HMRC.

[Bitpipe]

20 hours ago, JSHarris said:

 

Perhaps worth a call to the helpline and making note of what they say so that you can quote it with the reclaim. 

 

I suspect that they may allow it, based on my experience with the boiling water tap, as it seems the principle they apply is that if one element of an integrated gizmo is eligible, the whole of it becomes eligible.  The only issue may be if the hob has a recirculating extract or vents to outside, perhaps.  If externally vented then it probably counts as being a kitchen extractor, as required by building regs, and so eligible, if it's a recirculating unit then perhaps it isn't!

 

I tried to make every part of our build supply and fit to avoid building up a VAT cash pile - so rather than going head to head with HMRC I was negotiating with the vendor/trade which was a bit easier (as they wanted the sale).

 

In this example, I got the kitchen company to zero rate the (quite expensive) Siemens cooker hood, even though it had a recirculating bolt on. A few trades took some convincing but we always got there in the end.

 

The only place I've really racked up materials for VAT reclaim was EPS insulation & light wells for the basement;  timber, doors & ironmongry (for various first / second fix joinery) and the materials for the external landscaping where the respective trades were on a VAT free labour only rate.

 

Still waiting for one final bit of glass install to get BCO sign off and then will process claim - not relishing it but can't be any worse than doing my monthly business expenses!

[Bitpipe]

17 hours ago, JSHarris said:

If you have MVHR then all the air in the house will be changed every two hours or so, and the incoming air will be filtered, so the house will generally be a lot less dusty than a conventional house anyway.  The effect of MVHR on reducing the dust level in the house seems pretty dramatic to me, as I'm not one who's too fond of vacuum cleaning.  The house seems to be largely dust free compared to our old house, so doesn't really need as much dust removal at all.

 

 

Agree.  We also enforce a 'shoes off at front door' policy which has also helped enormously.

 

Initially this was because for a long time our exterior was not finished so was very mucky and gritty, and we didn't want the resin or oak stairs/floors getting scratched.

 

However it just makes good sense from a hygiene point of view.

 

We have hard flooring throughout - Karndean in basement, resin on GF and oak / tile elsewhere - any dust and pet hair is very noticeable so gets cleaned up pretty quick - was always horrified at what used to come out of the carpets at the old house when they were cleaned.