Christopher Parkes

Thank you for that information - much appreciated. We anticipate our sales will be in excess of £90k so we will register. I have read the introduction to input tax but I am still unsure of whether we can claim back VAT when we are not going to be paying any VAT because we won't be charging VAT on anything we sell. Would you be able to clarify in simple terms for me please? [edited]

We are a newly formed small charity (SCIO) with one shop and our accountant has told us we should register for VAT. We will only be selling donated goods (which I understand are zero-rated). With that in mind, do we HAVE to register? Also, our accountant says that we can claim back VAT on, for example, our rent and shop set up costs despite the fact that we won't actually be paying any VAT to HMRC. Surely that can't be right, is it? If it's right then obviously it would be beneficial for us to register despite the additional admin. Any help is appreciated. Many thanks.