Jay Cooke

You will need to Google "One Stop Shop" (OSS). This scheme is only available in the UK if you sell physical goods from Northern Ireland, any reference to it on HMRC website is in regard to goods/Northern Ireland, anything else, such as digital services sold to EU consumers, HMRC will not be able to help you with. OSS is a European scheme designed for non EU business who need to declare output tax in each of the member states. UK Accountants generally cannot help because to register for OSS it needs to be applied for in an EU Country, such as Ireland, and most Accountants will not have another office outside the UK, maybe a top 15 firm will be able to assist but unlikely a small local frm would be able to help. Use Google to look for UK based firms who specialise in OSS registrations, I can't give links here. Fees are either based on per transactions/number of transactions or based on turnover, so you need to search around for what best fits your business model. Once registered for OSS, it is basically a single VAT registration (one VAT number) where you then list the total sales you made to France, Germany, etc you then submit the return and make payment. The tax office where your OSS registration is registered in then distributes the VAT to France, Germany on your behalf. The tax office cannot be HMRC, so your OSS registration is likely going to be in Ireland (use of English as language helps here), again, this is why you may struggle to get assistance from an Accountant, Google OSS registrations to find UK specialists who do this. OSS was applicable to the UK and HMC before Brexit, thereafter OSS only exists in relation to Northern Ireland and movement of goods because Northern Ireland has a special relationship with the EU post Brexit (Windsor Agreement, NI Protocol, etc)

You cannot reclaim VAT back from HMRC, you must ensure you are charged the correct rate of VAT. Even if you were a VAT registered business doing this conversion, you cannot reclaim VAT where it has been wrongly charged by a supplier. I doubt the builder has spoken to their Accountant, or maybe their Accountant doesn't understand basic VAT guidance as per HMRC Notice 708 section 8 https://www.gov.uk/guidance/buildings-and-construction-vat-notice-708#section8 and section 8.3.2 indicates that the customer and contractor should have some form of proof the property has been empty for more than 2 years, such proof could be a letter from the empty housing officer at the local council. You cannot expect the contractor to just accept your word, so you must give the contractor something that reassures them, if not a letter from the Council, other formal evidence such as extract from the official electoral roll indicating nobody at the address since 2022, etc. If you cannot convince the contractor due to lack of evidence/unable to prove property has been empty, then the contractor is right to charge 20% VAT cannot be reclaimed by you. The reduced rate does not extend to "DIY" you do yourself, the reduced rate only applies to "supply and install by a VAT registered trader", therefore any materials you buy at B&Q will be 20% and irrecoverable.

HMRC publish a monthly exchange rate here https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/exchange_rates/monthly and you would need to use the rates per month. You can also use the exchange rate at the time the invoice was issued, you would show the exchange rate on the invoice so that both you and the customer know which exchange rate is applicable, guidance here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/foreign-currency-transactions-vat-and-tour-operators

Sheley Each case is dealt with on its own merits, so there is no point asking another business owner if they obtained a time to pay agreement. Call the number 0300 200 3830, go through the security questions so that you can prove to HMRC you are the business owner and then talk to them about a time to pay agreement. My one tip is that you make the call already having an idea of what you want to suggest (ie, if you owe £12,000 you may want to pay that over 12 months), so go in with a plan, HMRC may not agree to that plan and HMRC may come back to you with a counter offer which you may need to accept or have a further coutner offer of your own, sort of like a negotiation. The call and payment plan is agreed during that call, there should be no need for a callback, if you need to go away and think about the offer before you agree, then just ask the person to ensure the notes of the call and details of the offer are on the system, then when you call back you don;t have to go over old discussions and can just agree the plan. I would never trust the promise of a callback, it is you that owe the money so it is you that should be driving the discussion and making the calls, even if HMRC promise to call you back, don;t sit and wait, once you are ready to accept an offer or to negotiate an offer, pick up the phone and call, you will rarely get the same person each time you call but whoever answers the phone will be able to deal with your requests. When you are accepting the terms of the offer, HMRC will want a first payment there and then over the phone so have your debit card or bank details ready, HMRC will also want to set up a direct debit for the future payments so you must have your bank details close by and you must also have authority to setup a direct debit with the bank (ie, signatory or authorised to make payments on behalf of the business).

While awaiting a response from HMC Admin, it's worth a read of this VAT Tribunal case which involved a business which replaced conservatory roof panels from the existing Upvc/glass to an insulated panel, the insulated panels being an energy saving material. The Court of Appeal rejected the taxpayers view and decided that although the panels were energy saving, they were also primarily replacing the roof panels with just anther type of roof panel and the primary purpose was to replace the roof, not to insulate the roof (insulation was a secondary benefit from the primary benefit of the panels acting as a roof and protecting the inside of the property from wind and rain). https://www.gov.uk/tax-and-chancery-tribunal-decisions/greenspace-limited-v-the-commissioners-for-hm-revenue-and-customs-2021-ukut-0290-tcc What you describe sounds like the customer gets a brand new roof to replace their old and probably leaking flat roof (because flat roofs exist to leak ). Notwithstanding the above court case, the legislation does allow for making good or necessary works in order to install energy saving materials, just that is there a difference between installing a loft hatch (ancillary) in order t lay down loft insulation vs. replacing an entire roof just to install some insulation (ie, is the insulation ancillary to the main supply of a new roof)?

The contractual documents will set out the VAT position. Usually with a Hire Purchase, the first payment/deposit is usually the VAT element, if we take your £27k van, then £4,500 of the £27k is VAT (£27,000 x 1 /6) and so I'd expect the deposit to be £4,500 and that is recoverable as input tax as per date on deposit invoice. The subsequent monthly payments are not subject to VAT, no more VAT for you to reclaim as it was all done at the start, at the end of the hire purchase contract you keep the vehicle (you effectively own it from the start subject to making the payments for it). If it is Lease Hire (not the same as Lease Purchase), this is where you do not get to keep the vehicle at the end or you may have to pay a balloon payment or you can walk away, these usually see a smaller deposit and then monthly payments, both the deposit and monthly payments will include VAT so unlike Hire Purchase, each monthly payment is subject to VAT and you can reclaim the VAT element of each monthly payment (ie, if the monthly payment was £120 then £100 is net, £20 is VAT and you can reclaim £20 VAT each month/each monthly payment.) But you need to read the contract as it is impossible to say for certain which VAT treatment will apply without seeing the actual contract. You can only reclaim VAT if you have a valid VAT invoice, with a Lease Purchase agreement, the supplier will issue a deposit invoice and the invoice will show VAT on it, or if they do not issue an invoice, there will be a document within the lease purchase agreement that states VAT has been included in the deposit amount, so you need to read through the whole agreement and look for where it refers to the deposit, that is where it will mention the VAT status.

You can discuss a "time to pay" agreement with HMRC, you can only do this once all the VAT returns have been submitted, once all returns are submitted then HMRC can see the true extent of the VAT liability. There are many factors that HMRC will take into consideration when deciding how long the repayment period will be....for example if the business is profitable (although profit should not be confused with turnover or cashflow) then that may improve the chance of a longer repayment period. 12 months is usually the normal maximum but I've had clients who have had longer payment terms but 18 months is likely the absolute maximum except for rare cases. HMRC need to balance getting the debt paid with a business that may "slip" into old ways and build up more debt or abscond, so it is a fine balance as to what HMRC will offer. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-out-how-to-pay-a-debt-to-hmrc-with-a-time-to-pay-arrangement HMRC do have the power to close your company or seek bankruptcy if you are a sole trader. If HMRC believe they will not get back what you owe, HMRC will close your business and that way they will at least stop you from collecting more VAT from customers (because I presume you are still charging VAT and not paying it over even today) and once your business is closed you will find it difficult to start a new business as HMRC can refuse VAT registration in future or will seek a significant upfront security deposit for any future business you are involved with.

An NETP is still registered for UK VAT, but as a NETP you cannot benefit from the £90k turnover threshold, it is Nil and HMRC will correspond with you via letters to your overseas address. If you are selling certain services to UK business customers, you may no longer be eligible for UK VAT registration. If you do not make online sales in the UK or anywhere else, what is it that you are selling that requires you to have a UK VAT registration? It is impossible to confirm if you can reclaim VAT credits without knowing what it is you are selling to UK customers, are you selling goods or services? If services, are these to other businesses or consumers, if services what type of services are they?

Buildings and construction (VAT Notice 708) para 3.3.2 "Completion takes place at a given moment in time. That point in time is determined by weighing up the relevant factors of the project, such as: when a Certificate of Completion is issued the accordance to approved plans and specifications the scope of the planning consent and variations to it whether the building is habitable or fit for purpose Once construction is ‘complete’, any further supplies of construction services (other than those mentioned at paragraph 3.3.6 are no longer ‘in the course of construction’ and are thus ineligible for the zero rate." As you do not state what these "upgrade" works are, but assuming they are within the scope of the planning consent and were performed during the construction/before completion, then they may qualify for the zero rating....the problem with vague statements such as "upgrade" works is that it could mean anything, I read "upgrade" to mean fancier version of something, so a basic white kitchen worktop and cupboards are upgraded to gold plated worktop and cupboards, taking my example, was a basic white kitchen installed and then removed and replaced by an upgraded version or are you saying the customer changed their mind mid-build and asked for gold plated kitchen worktop. Further guidance here hVCONST02500 and VCONST02530

HMRC will only make repayments to a bank account in the name of the VAT registered business. If it is a non-UK bank, HMRC will also need an IBAN number and BIC. Without valid bank details, HMRC will issue a cheque/payable order in the name of the VAT registered business.