Jay Cooke

When you do not file a VAT return, HMRC will estimate what they think you owe, the surcharge liability notice/letter you have received will demand payment of this estimated amount. The estimate is a formula based on the turnover you stated on your VAT registration application. The fact you have received an estimated liability means that you had a VAT return period where you did not file a VAT return (probably due to the delay in you receiving your VAT certificate in the post). Easiest solution is to file the outstanding return...it may have been that you requested to be registered from say August 2023 and HMRC issued you a VAT number in October 2023 sometime, but you did not get the letter/confirmation of VAT number until mid-November, by which time your first return may already have been due (likely covering the period August 2023 to October 2023). Calculate what sales you made in the VAT return period, don't forget to calculate any input tax on purchases that you are entitled to reclaim and then file that return, that filed return will then tell HMRC what the correct amount of VAT is for the period, it might be Nil (if no sales made), it might be a refund if you have purchases you are reclaiming VAT on, HMRC will then cancel the surcharge letter, cancel the estimated amount and replaced with the value shown on your submitted VAT return. If you don't owe any VAT to HMRC, then the whole matter corrects itself. if you do owe HMRC money then you make payment at time you file the return.

Residential rent is always exempt. If you say live in a flat above a shop, the shop rent might be plus VAT but cannot be plus VAT for the flat. Link here, section 12 notes even service charges are exempt when related to a dwelling. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-on-land-and-property-notice-742#section12 The rental agreement should not have even mentioned VAT, so you perhaps need a word with your landlord to find out why, they may have just assumed they had to charge VAT and not aware if the rules.

Just give my post a try - either go with the UK postcode or if that fails, click the "report issue" at bottom of that page and let the IT helpdesk look into it as it might be a database issue which you nor I can fix, only HMRC can fix. As an aside, in MS Teams you can make non-video calls (ie, voice only calls) so you could always try calling the HMRC helpline via MS Teams and that way avoid the international charges, calls would be via VoIP/internet.

Try using this postcode AB10 1ZP As you are a USA based entity (you are not a UK established company), you are known as a "Non-Established Taxable Person" (NETP). When any business which is not a UK established company registers for VAT, the address for the VAT registration that HMRC use internally is Ruby House, 8 Ruby Place, Aberdeen, Scotland. AB10 1ZP. This address is used by HMRC for VAT registrations related to non-UK companies. I've overseas clients who had the same problem as you, it was resolved by using the address that is on your VAT certificate, the address on your VAT certificate will be Ruby House, AB10 1ZP. Your VAT certificate should have been received to your offices in the USA via the post. if you have not yet received this in the post, you would not know the address on the certificate is in fact an address in Scotland (Aberdeen). If that doesn't work, on the screen where it states "we can't confirm your business", there is a "any problem with this page" link at the very bottom of the page/screen, click that, explain the problem using the online form and someone will reply with next steps/who to call/how to resolve.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/vat-trader-records/vatrec5060 Your VAT invoices can be in any currency but you must show the VAT element in GBP. Your UK VAT return can only be submitted using values that are GBP, so if your invoices charge VAT in Euros, how do you convert that Euro VAT into GBP when you come to file your VAT return? The risk is you charge €100 plus €20 VAT and the customer pays you this amount , but when you come to file your VAT return at the end of the quarter, the exchange rate has changed and you pay to HMRC VAT in GBP of £18.50 If your customer is UK VAT registered , your invoice is invalid for VAT reclaim purposes, the customer cannot reclaim €20 VAT and if they convert the €20 you charged them back into GBP and they use a different exchange rate to what you used when you paid HMC £18.50 it could mean the customer reclaims £19.50 VAT from HMRC, you only paid HMRC £18.50 and HMC are out of pocket by £1 and HMRC will have an issue with this, this is why the rules require you to show a GBP equivalent somewhere on the invoice, to avoid any doubt with the customer and to ensure you pay over the right amount of VAT that you collected from the customer and not "lost" in exchange rates.

Use the VTA as shown on the invoice. The amount of VAT shown as GBP on the invoice is what the supplier will have paid to HMRC, if you now reclaim a different amount, then you could be reclaiming either more VAT or less VAT than HMRC actually received from the supplier. This is why a UK VAT invoice can be in any currency but there must be a GBP equivalent shown for the VAT element. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/foreign-currency-transactions-vat-and-tour-operators

Have you checked to see if you already have an EORI number, I know it sounds obvious but the error might be you're trying to get an EORI when you already have one? Your EORI should be your VAT number with GB at the start and three 000 at the end (GB12345678000) https://www.gov.uk/check-eori-number Sounds like you have reported the issue to the IT technical team (at the bottom of HMRC web pages there is a "is there a problem with this page link") which when you click on that, you can report IT glitches to the IT team and the IT team usually ask for screenshots, this is why I think you are dealing with the IT team not the EORI team. Just a guess though. Have you tried contacting the EORI team directly? You can use this online form here which does not require a login https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/shortforms/form/EORIContact Or you can try emailing the EORI team here isbc.eoricontact@hmrc.gov.uk