We currently have 2 VAT numbers for 1 business

Hello, We currently have 2 VAT numbers registered for the same business by accident, since early 2022. Of course one of these VAT numbers has been unused and should be deregistered as soon as possible, however I can not figure out how to do that. I've tried deregistering online using the form but it keeps getting declined. Calling also leads to dead ends and I see no possible way to deregister this double VAT number. Meanwhile, the returns and payments are piling up. Does anyone know how we can properly deregister this unused VAT number?

Hi,

Please contact our VAT team, providing us with both VAT numbers and we can remove the unused VAT number as a duplicate registration.

VAT: general enquiries

Thank you.

Hello, Could you please tell us how we can successfully get in touch with your VAT team? Calling either leads to dead ends or me being referred to a webpage I've already visited, not an actual person. Chatting is also not getting us anywhere. We would just like to talk to someone directly who could actually help us. Is there an email address for the VAT team? Also for your information, we're based in the Netherlands.

Hi,

We apologise that you have been unable to get this resolved over the phone.  

If you have received two VAT numbers for the same business please email, vrs.newregistrations@hmrc.gov.uk

Thank you.

Hello, We sent an email to the address you provided 9 days ago, however we still have received no response or confirmation. Could you tell us when we can expect a response? Is there maybe a phone number instead we could use to actually reach someone? The longer we wait the bigger the buildup of payments and returns, that's why we would like to get this resolved as soon as possible.

When you say you tried deregistering using the online form, is that the form you access via government gateway/VAT portal or the generic deregistration form you can fill in and email to vrs.newregistrations team? One route might be to setup a gateway for the VAT number you want to deregister and once you access your government gateway there is a menu option to cancel your registration. Cancel it through the gateway might be better than sending an email form. The other problem you might be having is that you cannot usually deregister when you have outstanding VAT returns and so you might be being rejected from cancelling because you've outstanding returns, in theory, only your duplicate VAT number should have outstanding returns, your other VAT number is your legitimate number and so you should be filing VAT returns as normal. There is also a number for the de-registrations team, although like most HMRC helplines, they are often engaged/busy and so you need to keep calling until you get through to someone, the de-registrations team number is 0300 322 7871. There was a small batch of VAT registrations that got duplicated back in early 2022, as I had a couple of these myself and so my clients filed VAT returns on time and paid their VAT liabilities on time using one of the VAT numbers and they deregistered the other VAT number but that process did take a couple months but back in 2022 we were recovering from Covid as a Country and so there was a backlog at HMRC. My clients used only one VAT number on their invoices and acted like the duplicate VAT number never existed, so make sure your invoices shows one VAT number only, file your returns using that one VAT number and in time you will get the duplicate number cancelled and that will then leave you in the position like the duplicate never existed you will just end up with your single VAT number, filing returns, etc.

Hi,
The best option would be to call our helpline so that we can refer this over to the appropriate team
Please see below:

VAT: general enquiries

If you have issues getting through to the Helpline please can you send us a VAT 7 to deregister the one VAT number,making it clear which VAT number you want to keep and which one you want to cancel.
Please see the link to the form below:

Cancel your VAT registration VAT7
​​​​​​​Finally Jason thank you for your very helpful reply