VAT added onto final invoice

Jumblebumble

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82116746#Comment_82116746

Are you seriously telling us that HMRC will ultimately be receiving an extra £ 576 by paying the electrician rather than paying £2880 to the builder?

What I understand is that reverse charge mean is that the electrician receives £2400 into their bank from the builder but does not need to hand over any VAT to HMRC as the builder hands it over on their behalf

If the OP pays £2880 + VAT the electrician will after handing the VAT to HMRC will have receive a total of £2880 into their bank

Smithy99

I had this with a plumber years ago. Some research said vat must be included on the quote and cannot be added to a final invoice if it wasn't. I refused to pay the vat. He didn't argue, I suspect he was chancing his arm cheeky !!!!!!. Makes you wonder how often they get away with it and people just cough up.

janoid19

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82118419#Comment_82118419

I just sent a polite message to the electrician asking him to explain how it worked. His explanation didn't really make sense but he said I could pay cash which is fine. Then this morning he messaged to say he would change the invoices to another account he had that wasn't VAT registered.

Either way I don't have to pay the VAT thankfully. Thanks for peoples thoughts on this.

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82121841#Comment_82121841

Hopefully he doesn't cut similar corners with the electrical work itself - if he was initially suggesting that VAT could magically disappear if you paid cash then that does sound dangerously like tax fraud, and for the offered alternative I'm not sure it's actually valid for a VAT-registered business to pick and choose whether or not they charge it…

sheramber

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82121870#Comment_82121870

I read it as the electrician had two businesses. One is registered for VAT and one is not. The one not registered coukd be a smaller business that does not require registration.

Perhaps , one for higher value business contracts and one for smaller value domestic work.

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82121880#Comment_82121880

Perhaps, but the word used was 'account' ("he would change the invoices to another account he had that wasn't VAT registered").

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82121880#Comment_82121880

But they would be deemed as linked businesses so assessed as one. A rule in place precisely to prevent the type of action described by the OP.