Reclaiming tax...

cybermoney

Hello,

About six months ago I incorporated a company. The company was being set up for two years before it was incorporated - which can be proven.

I have kept a lot of receipts. But unfortunately - a lot of receipts never existed due to a lot of cash in hand jobs.

Now, am I entitled to receive a rebate for the VAT I paid out over these years (i.e. on travel, expenses etc) and if so, and what point to I process this?

Thank You

JasonLVC

To reclaim VAT you need to be VAT registered first. So you need to decide if being VAT registered will disrupt your business (ie, are your customers members of the public or are they other businesses).

Once decided you register for VAT and you can go back three years (from the date you set as being VAT registered from - usually a current date) for goods you acquired and that are still on hand (ie, goods still in stock/not sold yet or assets still in use such as laptop, desks, etc). You can only go back 6 months for services such as hotels, travel costs, etc.

The right to reclaim this VAT is based on you holding valid VAT receipts/invoices to justify and evidence your VAT reclaim. So if you don't have receipts for some costs, then you're not going to be able to reclaim any VAT.

cybermoney

Ah OK, thank you for the detailed response.

I am not VAT registered, so it looks unlikely that I will be seeing any of this VAT back.

Does this go for all future VAT rebates? i.e. claiming back the VAT on future business expenses? i.e. laptops for the company, resources etc Do I have to be VAT registered?