Can I claim back VAT on staff benefits?

[TheMrs]

Good evening

Our small contracting business will be hit hard by the newly announced change in the flat rate scheme to 16.5% and it is now barely worth us being in the FRS.

We were in the FRS since company founded in 2012 so I haven't had the conversation with our accountant about what can and cannot be claimed for. We don't make many purchases as we are a contracting business but we do pay VAT on mobile phones, business insurance, accountancy fees, and, most expensive of all, critical illness cover and life insurance for the directors.

Are any of these things we can reclaim if we were to come out of the FRS? I'm looking to recover the £3,000 the change in rate will cost us. We are barely managing as it is thanks to the huge reduction in rates payable in oil and gas industry and this could sink us completely.

With thanks for your time and expertise.

[les35]

Accountants' fees and mobile telephones are taxable, so there will be input tax to recover, subject to the usual rules. Insurances are exempt from VAT, so I would not expect to see any VAT to be claimed.
But do check the new rules before you leave the FRS; speak to your Accountant, and ask him/her to monitor the new rules, and see how they apply to you.
Remember, the FRS was never designed to save you money, it was designed to save administration.