VAT on Day Rate

I provide a service for a couple of public sector bodies. I get paid per day I work. One, which I have done for a while simply pay me £x per day. I am about to start work for a second and they have sent over a purchase order for my days and they have included VAT (so £x + 20%). Should I just send them an invoice for my normal charge of £x per day, or the higher amount including VAT? I am not VAT registered and turnover is well below the £85,000 figure I have seen that warrants VAT registration

as you are not VAT registered, you cannot charge VAT and indeed you must not charge VAT. So you would just invoice your client £x per day as normal, at the normal agreed fee and don;t mention VAT. It may also be useful to speak to your client and ask them to amend their purchase order to remove VAT from the document as that way, when it comes to paying your invoice, there will be no confusion or queries from the client.

Hi Karl Buckle,
It appears that the customer is assuming you are VAT registered.
As you are not VAT registered then you can not charge VAT on your supplies and so you would need to communicate this to your customer.
Please see the guidance on charging VAT below:
4. The basic rules for VAT
Thank you.