UK VAT Payments/Returns

[cem27]

Hi All,

We have just applied to become VAT registered and will start to charge VAT as of February. Our tax year end 31st March 2014.

My question is... when we go into our new tax year (14/15) our company will not have made the £77,000 threshold within that first month, so how do i pay VAT returns in the first quarter when we haven't gone over that threshold?

Hope it makes sense as all this is new to me and I'm still struggling to get my head round it

Thank you in advance

 

[Becky]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

You are required to register to VAT if your turnover relating to VAT taxable goods/services exceeds the threshold (currently £79k) in the past 12 months (at any point). If your supplies are below the threshold you can still register voluntarily - it's just that there is no requirement to do so. Once you are registered, you must submit returns etc even if your turnover falls below the threshold. If you can demonstrate that your turnover will be below the deregistration threshold (£77k over 12 months) in the foreseeable future, HMRC may allow you to deregister though.

So the answer is that if you are registered you submit your returns and payments as normal!

There is more guidance here: HM Revenue & Customs: VAT rates, thresholds, fuel scale charges, exchange rates

Might be worth a read about simplified VAT schemes too: HM Revenue & Customs: VAT accounting schemes: the basics