VAT Registration

johnnyboy987

Hey,

Not too sure where to post this so thought I'd post it here...

If one of your suppliers has been claiming to be "waiting for his VAT registration to come through" since September 2011, he bills us monthly (although he takes upto three months for him to pass the invoice to me) and the invoices are hand written on printed blank orders! I've had enough of waiting for him to provide me with the information so I've decided I'm not going to pay him until he sorts it out. I want proper VAT invoices and a copy of his VAT Registration certificate.

My personal opinion is we have given him the benefit of the doubt for too long and I actually would go as far to say he is committing fraud.

What my question is: Is it possible to find out if a company is VAT registered without going to the company? I know you can verify VAT numbers if you have it but what if you don't?

Any help would be gratefully recieved!

Cheers,

Johnny

Diddy Mau

Hi Jonny

I would personally, pay the net amount, or wait to see if he produces a VAT Number.
If he does become VAT registered I would check to see when from. If this is after the invocie date, then I would say he cant charge VAT as not resistered at the time of issuing the invoice.

Hopefully the more experienced will be abler to shed some 'legal' light on the situation

johnnyboy987

Thanks for your reply,

He isn't charging us the amount as VAT, he is including the VAT element in what he is charging. He charged us £264 whereas he was charged £220+VAT. So we basically paid the gross amount as net, effectively paying an additional £44. Hope I am explaining this right.

He told me back in September of last year he was waiting for his VAT number and certificate to come through... He had mentioned about his VAT return a few weeks after that so I am sure he is registered.

I wouldn't like to think about the state of his books - would it be unethical to offer to do his books for him? lol.

Johnny