Voluntary VAT registered, is it worth it?

[Stephen Blair]

You will need to let your customers know, if they are commercial then there wont be a problem, if domestic then they might decide to go elswhere, if they like you then most of them stay.

If you go vat registered and the vat man thinks you should of been registered earlier then he will make you go back and claim the vat back off them, now that is fun. Most guys i know that have had to do that have taken the hit themselves on domestic ones.

The best thing to do is speak to them and get their advice, a lot of folk are scared of the tax and vat people, i have always found them very helpfull and glad to hear from me, it makes their job so much easier and puts your own mind at rest. Furthermore, if you have a boom season, say summer months and not so good the other 6, they can take a hypothetical average from the good months and make you register.

[Kev Stephenson]

I doubt i would lower any day rate, as at the moment with rising costs I believe keeping the same would be fair.

 

But your costs would go down as you could claim the VAT back on them????

 

e.g 1 day = £350 which breaks down as £100 to you, £100 to the groundie and £150 in fuel, tools and depreiation of assets. You would claim back 17.5% of all that £150 spent so your direct cost per day has gone down by approx £26. You could therefore pass that saving on.

Edited October 23, 2010 by Kev Stephenson

[Busy Daddy]

Just taken the vat route myself , go vat regersted on nov 1 , dont get any back vat untill end of first quater

90% of my part time business is log sales , gettin the wife to do all the paperwork

[benedmonds]

Check out the Flat rate scheme..

[18 stoner]

You will need to let your customers know, if they are commercial then there wont be a problem, if domestic then they might decide to go elswhere, if they like you then most of them stay.

 

Unfortunately the guy who sprang it on me must have assumed it was ok, but never turned up to fulfill his contract, so guess it wasnt a problem in the end.

 

Not entirely sure on the legalities of such, perhaps its just an un-gentlemanly type of behaviour:thumbdown:

[18 stoner]

I think in general, going on the majority of replies you have all given, and the type of set up i have at present it is not a viable option.

 

Due to my wife doing my books, having a job, an extra bill for the accountants all need to considered too.

 

I feel much more at ease now, many thanks.

[Stephen Blair]

Unfortunately the guy who sprang it on me must have assumed it was ok, but never turned up to fulfill his contract, so guess it wasnt a problem in the end.

 

Not entirely sure on the legalities of such, perhaps its just an un-gentlemanly type of behaviour:thumbdown:

 

when i went vat registered i found it dificult to tell customers, i felt bad about it as i used to be terrible when it came to asking for money. I would leave it too long and it would escalate in my mind and i would leave things to the last minute and then pannick, i have fallen out with quite a few customers over the years because my communication skills have been poor and i didn't know how to approach situation, i would rehearse things in my head and they would always end in disaster in my mind, now i know that upfront and straight to the point is best, i am honest with my customers, friends and family and still get nervous in conflict situations but now i know how to handle them better. I had a fall out just the other day regarding Vat, it wasnt added onto the price i thought i was getting, it was included. I just went off in one and things got heated. I calmed down and had a good think about it, after a few texts between me and the other guy, i must have deleted about 30 texts i was GOING to send and after about 4 hours i sent 1 text, with some new terms and conditions, i got one back and everything was rosey.

The problem was at the beginning of the deal, i didnt pay attention and look at the paper work as i PRESUMED it was plus vat, my fault entirely.

It is very easy to think the other party is wrong but have a think about the whole story and see if you can see the others side of it. Was their something you had done, could you have been unclear about your cost, has there been confusion or a diference in agreed prices in the past.

I do most of my deals now on my iphone, it keeps a record of all the texts between contacts. I can just read over exactly what was agreed and i have been wrong more than once and i always feel better when i say sorry and man up to it. I even fell out with someone (they didnt realise) then i looked over the texts history and my last 1 hadnt sent:blushing:1 text later everything was rosey:laugh1:

there is always 2 sides to a story:001_smile:

[Johny Walker]

stevie,thats a bit heavy for a sat nite ,get a gaymores & let yr sen uwind:thumbup1:

[18 stoner]

Time has passed now Stevie and I aint fretting about it, but as it happens the contract was sealed by the other guy sending me a text (that i still have) with no mention of the price rise. At that point i possibly just "assumed" the terms would be as usual. I heard indirectly 2 days before the works about possibility of the issue, then by text from the guy less than 24 hrs prior to works. Then he never turned up anyhow! Ha ha!

 

So as you say, having written or text records is good, but i arent one to get arsed about it, just move on in stead. No hassle.

 

Some good advise there though Stevie, sometimes help to look at how the other person sees a situation.

[Stephen Blair]

i am totally chilled Johnty, i was out last night so that will do me for a wee whiley:biggrin: