Flat Rate VAT Scheme Rate
Out of context: Reply #6
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- Spookytim0
The Revenue are tough on lateness for VAT payments but they do give you one chance of fucking up before they get the guns out.
I had a HORRIBLE vat experience when I was setting up Studiospooky. I had sailed massively past the VAt threshold as a sole trader with my studio in London. I knew I had, but I assumed when you went over it, you just had to casually let them know so that in your next financial year you started charging and paying VAT.
Oh no. Once you've gone over it, ever single penny has to be VAT deducted at 17.5%. I had dissolved my design studio partnership and becuase that was a casual arrangement not on paper at all, I had invoiced my ex-partner for my 50% of the business... with no VAT included becuase I wasn't VAT registered at the time. Plus I'd invoiced god knows how much to various clients.
So I owed the VAT man about 50k in VAT payments for invoices that I hadn't charged any VAT on. They don't give a shit. Total hard-nosed players. They are owed, and they will collect whether or not I charged VAT on my invoices.
I had to write to all those clients and my ex-partner and practiucally BEG them to accept and additional VAT payment demand on invoices that had been settled months back.
God bless every single one of them becuase they all paid me the additional payments and I ended up in the clear. But any one of them could have said no and I'd have been stumped as it was totally at their discretion to do it. My ex-partner paid me about 20k in VAT demands voluntarily and he could very easily have left me stranded if he wanted to. I have never been so happy that our partnership didn't end accrimoniously.
They all just claimed my VAT claim back in their next VAT return so it wasn't like they would be out of pocket.
VAT is mental. Its just passing money round on behalf of the treasury.
Another of my long and boring anecdotes. I am sorry about them. I know how dull they are, but its good therapy for me.
:)