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Where Taxpayers and Advisers Meet

Argos and VAT receipts

MatthewB
Posts:1
Joined:Tue Jan 12, 2021 12:45 pm
Argos and VAT receipts

Postby MatthewB » Tue Jan 12, 2021 1:08 pm

Hello there,

I'm hoping that someone here can confirm whether I'm right or wrong. As far as I'm aware it is a legal requirement for a VAT registered business to provide a VAT receipt or invoice with each transaction it has with a customer?

I've just been through a trial by fire to get one out of Argos for an item I'd ordered, click and collect and paid by Paypal. They couldn't provide a receipt at the till, said I had to log into my account to download one but this then didn't detail VAT. I had to then contact them by live chat and answer 20 questions before they'd issue a full invoice, VAT receipts are not available.

They are the only high street business I can think of that doesn't provide a VAT receipt with your purchase, it's easier to get one out of Amazon these days. Is this legally wrong, a grey area or are they in their rights to make the process so difficult?

In curiosity, Matt.

Trevor S
Posts:108
Joined:Tue Jan 01, 2019 12:37 am

Re: Argos and VAT receipts

Postby Trevor S » Wed Jan 13, 2021 8:34 am

The Value Added Tax Regulations 1995 state:
Obligation to provide a VAT invoice
13. —
(1) Save as otherwise provided in these Regulations, where a registered person—
(a)makes a taxable supply in the United Kingdom to a taxable person,...
he shall provide such persons as are mentioned above with a VAT invoice.

The key point here is "to a taxable person" (which means VAT registered business) as the vast majority of most high street retailers' customers are unlikely to be a "taxable person". So provided that the retailer has some method for providing a VAT invoice to a customer who informs them that they are a taxable person, they are complying with the law.

Of course, many retailers may not want the admin of dealing with such requests, and so just issue VAT receipts routinely or have some option on their website to generate them. But there is no obligation for them to routinely issue in cases not covered by regulation 13 above.


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