SHOULD I REGISTER FOR VAT?

If your taxable turnover is below the VAT threshold then you may not have considered whether registering for VAT could be advantageous for you. The VAT registration threshold is £79,000 from 1 April 2013.

If you incur VAT on supplies and the majority of your customers are registered for VAT, then it may be beneficial to register for VAT on a voluntary basis.

This will allow you to recover the input tax paid on the supplies and also allow you to charge VAT on your invoices.

It will also be beneficial if many of your supplies are zero rated, such as food, as you will be able to reclaim VAT suffered and may receive a VAT repayment each quarter, which is beneficial from a cash-flow perspective.

If you decide to register for VAT then your VAT registered customers will be able to recover the VAT charged on your invoices when they next submit their VAT return.