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Where Taxpayers and Advisers Meet

Reclaiming of VAT

NickyLD
Posts:1
Joined:Thu Mar 18, 2021 1:25 pm
Reclaiming of VAT

Postby NickyLD » Thu Mar 18, 2021 1:33 pm

Hi All,

I work for a company which purchases goods for interior design projects.

Some of our purchases are through trade accounts, but the vast majority are not. The budgets for the projects can be in excess of £250k, so the number of individual transactions can be huge. We outsource the majority of bookkeeping to an accountant at present.

Each quarter we are provided which a huge list of transactions, for which we must supply an supply invoice to be able to reclaim the VAT. As the transaction is often a retail purchase online, VAT invoices are difficult to obtain. I'm trying to get to the stage whereby we are only placing orders with trade accounts, but until we can get to that point, I need to still obtain paid supplier VAT invoices which is proving difficult.

Is there a way we can cut down on this administration? Is there a method of creating an invoice at the point of sale, either by a credit card transaction or pre-payment card? Is there an authorised system which deals with a link to HMRC that proves the transaction, and therefore reclaims the VAT, but doesn't necessarily ask for a VAT receipt from the vendor? Or am I asking for the impossible? I've seen it's possible with Nat West One Card but it looks like the turnover needs to be in excess of £2m per year.

Any advice gratefully received.

les35
Posts:635
Joined:Wed Aug 06, 2008 3:09 pm

Re: Reclaiming of VAT

Postby les35 » Fri Mar 19, 2021 11:42 am

One condition of reclaiming input tax is obtaining a proper VAT invoice from the supplier. Up to £250 in value a till receipt MAY suffice, assuming it contains proper information. Over £250 the invoice has to show additional information, such as your address. It is a legal requirement for suppliers to provide a VAT invoice if requested.
These are 'basic' VAT rules and you should take steps to properly comply. You should consider opening trade accounts with your retail suppliers, if possible. I would start, however, with an hour with your Accountant or bookkeeper to agree the best way to address this.


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