Jay Cooke

Yes, it will be the previous working day, which is usually Friday. https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/vat-default-surcharge-officers-guide/vdsog400 "Weekends and bank holidays If the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or bank holiday, payment must clear into HMRCs bank account by the working day before the due date, unless the taxpayer’s bank allows faster payments on weekends or bank holidays."

The goods might be remaining in the EU at all time (French supplier sends goods to Irish customer), but the ownership of those goods is not all within the EU, presumably when you place order with French supplier, they will bill you for the goods, if so, then you (UK business) takes possession of those goods in France. You take possession of the goods in France, then when the goods ship to Ireland, yes the French supplier arranges the shipping but they are now shipping your goods, not theirs, they've already made the sale to you. I would expect the French supplier to charge you French VAT as the goods - at time of sale - do not leave France (ie, French supplier sells goods to UK business and then French supplier ships those goods as a favour for the UK business, and ships them to the Irish end customer. Since Brexit, UK no longer in the EU and so we can no longer avail of the EU simplification that was called "triangulation", do read the link below because it re-iterates what I've posted here, triangulation is only applicable where it involves a Northern Irish business, which is why HMRC still have the guidance up on their website HMRC "triangulation" link (but no longer applicable guidance for a GB based business) https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/vat-single-market/vatsm5205  Chances are the UK entity may need to register for VAT in France or Ireland. If this is a one off then it all depends on whether the French supplier charges you VAT (they should but if they too are confused then they may not). If this is going to be a regular thing, then get advice from your Accountant.

[External link removed - Admin]

What are you invoicing them for? Goods or services? If services, are these services land related or digital? Depending on what it is you are selling, you may be required to register for VAT in Italy.

Just to add to what HMRC Admin13 has posted. If you are incurring import VAT in Switzerland, Belgium or elsewhere in the EU, this will be because you have not set the Incoterms with the freight agent, so if you are shipping again in the future, you need to be clear who will be the importer - you (and you will get charged the Swiss/Belgian VAT which you can't reclaim on a UK VAT return but might be able to make a 13th Directive refund claim) or else the customer is the importer and this is often preferable as the customer is more likely to be VAT registered in their own Country and so incurring import VAT for them would be recoverable for them on their own VAT return. Also, just to quickly remind how VAT works between two UK businesses...Seller charges VAT to buyer, customer pays seller, seller pays the VAT element over to HMRC. Customer then reclaims this VAT from HMRC and so seller, HMRC and customer are all neutral when it comes to VAT, everybody at some point had the VAT in their hand before giving it to someone else, the VAT washes through with Nil effect. When you do this where the customer is overseas and foreign VAT has been incurred, here your sale is zero rated so HMRC collect no VAT from you, you incur Swiss VAT that was paid to the Swiss taxman. HMRC have no way to get that VAT from the Swiss, the Swiss keep it. If you try and reclaim it on a UK VAT return then HMRC is out of pocket (tax loss to HMRC/UK Treasury) because you paid them Nil VAT and reclaimed back £x Swiss VAT, hence your claim is with the Swiss to get the VAT back from the Swiss, nothing to do with HMRC.

You need to write to HMRC and ask them to consider a lower amount (the amount cannot be Nil) - see sections 4 and 8 here Annual accounting (VAT Notice 732).
You have probably chosen the wrong scheme to be on if you are a new business with uncertain sales, you may want to consider moving to normal quarterly returns as if there are no sales in a quarter then you can file a Nil VAT return and nothing to pay.
The government gateway (12 digit User ID and password) only allows ONE VAT service to be attached to it, so if the system is saying there is already a VAT number attached to it, then that is either a technical issue with HMRC or you are using someone elses gateway/login ID. For gateway issues, you need to call the VAT IT helpdesk using the telephone number on this link Get help using VAT online services  or you could write to HMRC but this will take longer to resolve.
When calling the IT helpdesk you will be asked several security questions about the business so make make sure you have your VAT details and information in front of you.

Fay The agent (or client) government gateway, it only has one format/layout for showing what has been paid, what is owed and penalties/interest. The view you have of the VAT account is the only view of the VAT account. Not sure if this forum can really help, you seem to be asking why you cannot view your VAT account like you can a bank statement, showing debits and credits, that is not something HMRC Forum Admins can really deal with as you are asking about the fundamental user interface that HMRC have chosen to display information to users. I can say, from experience, that there have been many errors and glitches on the VAT account page for many of my clients, the user interface is terrible, the calculation of interest and penalties often seems random, and sometimes it is, the only way I have been able to resolve these is to call debt management and work through the history of the client.....for example, return filed was £x, filed on (date), payment made on (date), payment was late by say 2 days, penalty should be Nil (assuming it is appealed), interest should be calculated using HMRC published interest rates on daily basis, etc. I've had clients where HMRC shows no payment received despite client paying on time/having proof of payment, showing two payments received even though only one has been made, I've had clients pay late and the interest charges have been thousands of pounds for 2-3 days on a debt of £2,000 (ie, interest many times higher than the actual VAT debt) and I've had clients receive debt collection letters where they have no debts and their VAT account is up-yto-date/nothing due. If you are a tax agent, you could register/join the "agent" forum here and post your query as a tax agent and asking about the general format/layout of the user interface.

HMRC do not send VAT registration certificates by email - this avoids potential for fraud - HMRC only ever send VAT certificates via the post. HMRC do not generally give VAT numbers over the telephone either, but you can call the VAT helpline, advise them that you have not received the VAT certificate/lost in the post, and ask HMRC to send a copy, that copy will be sent to the same address as per your VAT registration. If you do incur a penalty for not filing your first VAT return on time, you are able to appeal this penalty via your government gateway and you can explain the delay as due to postal delays.

Useful starting point here https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/vat-food/vfood7600 and there are a couple of case law examples to dwell on. If you are buying this product from a wholesaler/manufacturer for sale in your own shop, then the VAT treatment from the seller is probably a good indication of the VAT treatment, although not always a guarantee of accuracy. This forum is unlikely to give you a definitive answer as the VAT treatment will depend on a multi-factorial approach - which means how the product is held out for sale (is it on the fruit juice aisle or sold alongside chilled soft drinks), marketing (does the labelling indicate the product is healthy, used for cooking or for drinking), ingredients, how the product is to be consumed (in a glass, on the move/on the go, etc).....although it does sound very similar to an Innocent Smoothie drink/beverage, which is mentioned in the above guidance/link. So for a definitive reply you would need to submit a non-statutory clearance to HMRC, whereby you write to HMRC and explain why you are uncertain as to the VAT status of the product and then provide as much detail as possible (photos of the product, where it would be displayed, etc) and then HMRC will have sufficient information to give their view. Link on how to subit a non-statutory clearance here : https://www.gov.uk/guidance/non-statutory-clearance-service-guidance

Generally, the place of supply of B2B services is that reverse charge applies, so the German supplier should not be charging you German VAT at 19%, this is assuming the services you are buying are general rule services. For example, land related services such as surveying land in Germany would still be charged with German VAT, as would certain telecom services (use and enjoyment). Link to HMRC Notice : https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-place-of-supply-of-services-notice-741a You cannot reclaim foreign VAT on a UK VAT return, you can only reclaim UK charged VAT, so this 19% is a cost you just have to absorb or the better approach is to go back to the supplier, point out to them that you are a business with a UK VAT registration and that their supply/invoice to you likely falls under reverse charge and hopefully they will re-issue their invoice but without the 19% VAT. The supplier must be satisfied that you are "in business", so if you are a sole trader "Sarah Bellerby" and you order services from Germany using your own name, they may see you as a person buying personally rather than as a business buying for the business. whereas if you were a company "Sarah Bellerby Ltd" then it is obvious you are a business. I note you state you are an entity, but you may have ordered goods in your own name by accident, for example, if you have a LinkedIn or Spotify account, chances are this will be in your own name, even if you use both only for business purposes, it is rare for people to sign up to LinkedIn as a business or have a corporate Spotify account.