Sole trader taking over small cafe in an art gallery - advice on VAT please?

David_St_Hubbins

Hi, I'm a sole trader chef/restaurant manager and would like to know whether given my expected turnover in the new cafe (<£50,000pa), I need to register for VAT. If not, how do I deal with VAT as shown on invoice templates? Many thanks!

Jeremy535897

I would suggest that you delay registering for VAT until your turnover reaches the registration limit of £85,000 a year. That way you don't pay a sixth of your takings (less input tax) to the tax man. I am assuming this is your only business as a sole trader.

Nearlyold

The VAT threshold is currently £85,000 unitil the 31st March 2024 (when it may or may not change) so you don't need to register for VAT unitil your turnover reaches the threshold

With regard to invoices/bills/receipts most if not all of the off the shelf systems will have the option not to include or charge VAT to suit non-VAT registered businesses, are you looking at the invoice templates on a system already in use at the cafe or some other invoice templates?

David_St_Hubbins

Nearlyold said:

The VAT threshold is currently £85,000 unitil the 31st March 2024 (when it may or may not change) so you don't need to register for VAT unitil your turnover reaches the threshold

With regard to invoices/bills/receipts most if not all of the off the shelf systems will have the option not to include or charge VAT to suit non-VAT registered businesses, are you looking at the invoice templates on a system already in use at the cafe or some other invoice templates?

Thank you for that. I'm going to be using invoice templates given free with sumup's POS package.

Nearlyold

See Can I invoice without a VAT number? | SumUp Invoices

This section 

Send an invoice without a VAT number with SumUp Invoices

If you’re not registered for VAT, you should deactivate VAT in your profile settings. To do this, click on ‘Settings’, then select ‘Business Information’. At the top, you’ll see the option to ‘Apply VAT to income and expenses’ – make sure this is turned off.

You’ll also see a field called ‘VAT No.’. If you’re not registered for VAT, you can leave this field empty. Your invoices won’t show a VAT number, nor will they contain information about VAT rates or the total amount of tax due.

Grumpy_chap

David_St_Hubbins said:

Hi, I'm a sole trader chef/restaurant manager and would like to know whether given my expected turnover in the new cafe (<£50,000pa), I need to register for VAT. If not, how do I deal with VAT as shown on invoice templates? Many thanks!

With turnover at around £50k, you do not need to register for VAT, however will the business be sustainably viable at this turnover?  This total income needs to pay all costs, rent, energy, ingredients, washing up, your wages, any staff / assistant wages.  That seems a lot to cover from £50k.