Purchase items reducing VAT

ttellahzab

Hi all,
I wish to purchase a new PC for myself but the PC that I wish to purchase is quite expensive accumulating a lot of VAT. Is there anything out there that can help reduce (if not eliminate) VAT on a purchase legally?
For example, is it legal to purchase via work for personnel use avoiding TAX altogether (i suspect not)?
Thanks in advance.
Barry

unforeseen

You would possibly pay even more as a BIK. 

Mickey666

Not legally I don’t think.
But if you had an understanding employer who was happy to buy a PC so you could work from home then in practice the taxman would never know, especially if the employer was a large company.  Of course you’d have to give it back if you left your employer, but you might well find that they wouldn’t be interested in taking back an old PC and may have already written it off so they’d let you keep it anyway.

Grumpy_chap

What are you doing at home that requires a PC that incurs enough of a VAT-bill that makes this worth while?
Is it a gaming PC?
If so, the VAT is simply a part of your hobby.
If your hobby was microlight gliders, they also incur a substantial VAT bill if you buy one.  Why should the VAT on a gaming PC hobby be avoided but not the far higher VAT on a shiny new microlite aircraft?

Jeremy535897

ttellahzab said:

Hi all,
I wish to purchase a new PC for myself but the PC that I wish to purchase is quite expensive accumulating a lot of VAT. Is there anything out there that can help reduce (if not eliminate) VAT on a purchase legally?
For example, is it legal to purchase via work for personnel use avoiding TAX altogether (i suspect not)?
Thanks in advance.
Barry

As has been pointed out, if an employer buys an asset for an employee's use in his employment, and the employer is registered for VAT, the employer can recover the VAT, but the computer still belongs to the employer. If there is any private use, there is a supply subject to VAT. If the computer is transferred to the employee, VAT has to be charged.

Simply asking someone who is VAT registered to buy something for you which you will pay them for achieves nothing, as VAT will have to be charged by the VAT registered person to you.

Grumpy_chap

OP - are you employed PAYE?
 or self-employed VAT-registered sole-trader?
 or own VAT-registered Ltd Co?

k12479

Mickey666 said:

But if you had an understanding employer who was happy to buy a PC so you could work from home then in practice the taxman would never know, especially if the employer was a large company.

The bigger the company the less likely you'd be free to install whatever software you want/need. Regardless of company size, if you're an employee I'd suggest it's better to keep your personal files and activities away from your employer's IT assets.

penners324

Try the Lewis Hamilton approach. Set up a company in the Isle of Mann, get them to buy the computer, rent it to a company based in Monaco or the Cayman Islands (that you also own), rent the computer to yourself.

Anything else is basically tax evasion.

ttellahzab

Thanks for all your input.