VAT registration and assessment

I have a startup limited company that was registered three years ago. I haven’t registered for VAT because all of my sales were to customers outside the UK, and the total turnover of my company was below the standard level required for registering for VAT (even < £10K). This year, on 31 July, I decided to apply for VAT registration online. After two weeks, before I received my VAT number, I received a series of posts including charges, penalties, and claims for paying a huge amount of VAT for the last two years. The claimed amounts are high and exceed all the money in and out during those years. Can anyone help me solve this problem? Also, are exports and sales outside the UK zero-rated for VAT or not?

Hi BURHAN SHAMURAD,
If you export goods outside of the UK then these should be at the zero rate of VAT.
Please see the guidance below:
VAT on goods exported from the UK (VAT Notice 703)
If you have been trading under the Registration threshold of VAT then there would have been no obligation to register for VAT and so your VAT registration would be voluntary.
I can only imagine that you have backdated your Registration date and so HMRC are looking to collect the VAT which should have been charged from this date.
I would recommend you check this date on your VAT Certificate.
If the date is incorrect then you could request for this to be changed by writing to the following address:
BT VAT 
HMRC
BX9 1WR.
If you find that the date of your Registration is correct then please contact our Helpline so that we can look in to your account for
you.
VAT: general enquiries
Thank you. 

 

Yes, you are correct. It appears that when I submitted the application, I set the wrong start date for the VAT registration. Thank you so much for your answer and clarification. I will ask my accountant to follow up on the issue by contacting HMRC. Thanks