Builder miscalculated tax on invoice

smorri4 · 3 January 2018 at 7:46PM

Hello.
We had some building work and new kitchen install completed in November 2017. Final invoice was paid for in full on 17th Nov. Today I receive a letter from said builder saying that we owe £760. They also say the letter received today was written and sent on 22/12 and prior to that they say they sent another letter on 12/12/17 outlining the administration error that meant they did not charge us correct vat. Where do I stand please? I will add that the company did not do a great job of the kitchen and so I’m hesitant to cough up more money especially as they added on a ridiculous amount of ‘extras’ that were not even on the original estimate. They are theeatening legal action if we don’t pay.

AndyMc..... · 3 January 2018 at 8:00PM

smorri4 wrote: »

Hello.
We had some building work and new kitchen install completed in November 2017. Final invoice was paid for in full on 17th Nov. Today I receive a letter from said builder saying that we owe £760. They also say the letter received today was written and sent on 22/12 and prior to that they say they sent another letter on 12/12/17 outlining the administration error that meant they did not charge us correct vat. Where do I stand please? I will add that the company did not do a great job of the kitchen and so I’m hesitant to cough up more money especially as they added on a ridiculous amount of ‘extras’ that were not even on the original estimate. They are theeatening legal action if we don’t pay.

Have you paid what was originally quoted? ie The final bill inclusive of vat or were you quoted £x +vat.

Enterprise_1701C · 3 January 2018 at 8:23PM

Did they have E&OE on the invoice (errors and omissions excepted)

EachPenny · 3 January 2018 at 9:00PM

smorri4 wrote: »

....that meant they did not charge us correct vat.

Was it a proper VAT invoice (i.e. having all required features) ?
Did it show the % rate they were charging VAT at?
Was the amount of VAT shown separately and correctly calculated?

TheCyclingProgrammer · 3 January 2018 at 9:03PM

As the other posters have said I think this will largely come down to what you’ve paid and what you agreed to pay.

Did you get a fixed quote? Was that quote exclusive or inclusive of VAT? Does it differ to what you did pay? In what way was the VAT miscalculated? Assuming it was all standard rated, did your invoice show VAT separately and was it 20% of the net?

Did you have any other form of signed conditions or terms of business?

theonlywayisup · 3 January 2018 at 9:06PM

Are you saying the job was £3800 and now the boiler has added VAT?

trailingspouse · 3 January 2018 at 9:22PM

And finally - is the builder VAT registered? If he is, he will have a VAT registration number which should be on his invoice.

If it was a genuine mistake, and you knew that the bill should include VAT, then I would pay up - mistakes happen, and he will have to pay the money to HMRC even though he hasn't received it from you.

If, on the other hand, you think he's pulling a fast one then tell him that you paid the he amount asked for and won't be paying a penny more.

road2manchester · 5 January 2018 at 12:09AM

Pah !!!! Write to them with all the extras you didn't ask for priced up. Deduct this from the VAT mistake BUT FIRST check their VAT number with HMRC on line. Make sure it's genuine. If there is no VAT number on the invoice they can not claim more from you. As above the quote itself is important in particular the wording and a copy of their terms and conditions will help. Go to Citizens Advise or just pop into any accountant. 1st meeting is generally free.

Builder miscalculated tax on invoice

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