Home › Forums › General › Financial, Tax and Insurance › UK Ltd company – VAT Registration?
- This topic has 8 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 8 months ago by James McLauchlan.
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March 31, 2011 at 1:15 pm #4173James McLauchlanParticipant
Ltd company billing other UK companies for Offshore North Sea work?
Assuming your Ltd company is UK based.
If you work in the UK you charge VAT on services and claim VAT back on expenses incurred in the UK.
In general terms (there are caveats)…
If you invoice another EU company you do not charge VAT.
If you invoice an overseas company out-with the EU you do not charge VAT.If you work in the UK, and overseas, it might be worth being VAT registered, I’d consult an accountant on that one.
Plus, if you bill all your work through your company and exceed the VAT threshold, you may be required by law to register for VAT anyway.
If you deem it advantageous you can register voluntarily for any lesser turnover (as far as I remember).There is a law in Britain, which makes it obligatory to register for VAT if your business has made more than £70,000 of the VAT taxable turnover for the previous year. This figure is called VAT registration threshold.
To be clear, VAT-taxable turnover is a sum of all the goods you’ve sold and services you’ve provided that belong to the group of VAT-taxable.
In the UK the government usually changes the VAT threshold once a year. The changes are announced in the Budget. That’s why you have to check your turnover regularly and see if it doesn’t outstrip the VAT threshold 2010. And if it does – you have to register for VAT.
March 31, 2011 at 7:35 pm #30681Andy ShiersParticipantI have my own Ltd Company and have had it registered for over 14 years.
I was VAT registered for five of them but due to the fact that most of my work is outside the UK the Accountant deemed it a waste of time because …… as you say it only applies to UK not anywhere else.
This meant that every quarter the VAT forms had to filled out with NIL everytime. This was a headache if I was not around to send them off. 😯April 1, 2011 at 8:47 am #30682luckyjim37ParticipantThe thing to watch here is it is also relative to where you are paid from.
At the moment if I contracted direct to P&O in Ireland I would not charge VAT.
however if I did the same job for P&O but was working through a UK agency I would charge VAT as the UK agency is where I am invoicing to.
April 1, 2011 at 8:59 am #30683James McLauchlanParticipantThe thing to watch here is it is also relative to where you are paid from.
At the moment if I contracted direct to P&O in Ireland I would not charge VAT.
however if I did the same job for P&O but was working through a UK agency I would charge VAT as the UK agency is where I am invoicing to.
Valid point Jim :tup:
April 8, 2011 at 11:56 am #30684piedpiperParticipantThe thing to watch here is it is also relative to where you are paid from.
At the moment if I contracted direct to P&O in Ireland I would not charge VAT.
however if I did the same job for P&O but was working through a UK agency I would charge VAT as the UK agency is where I am invoicing to.
Jim, how are you as far as IR35 is concerned ? Would be interested to know.
piedpiper
April 11, 2011 at 8:08 am #30685luckyjim37ParticipantThe IR35 is not a problem as long as you work for more than one employer in 12 months and that this would not be allowed if you were an employee of the main firm you contract to. Also do not take a written contract for a period exceeding 12 months if you are shore working.
Technically every time you go offshore is a new contract so that is not a problem. The other thing to watch is taking perks from the company you are working for. If for example you may have contracted to Sonsub on various jobs but then they offer a bonus of some type which could be deemed to be a staff bonus. That is when you can get into trouble with IR35.
April 11, 2011 at 9:03 am #30686piedpiperParticipantJim, do you class one employer as UKPS for instance, or for the company they hire you out too ?
piedpiper
April 12, 2011 at 10:46 pm #30687luckyjim37ParticipantWhoever I send the invoice into is the employer they are giving you the contract not the client company.
April 13, 2011 at 9:32 pm #30688James McLauchlanParticipantWhoever I send the invoice into is the employer they are giving you the contract not the client company.
Agree 100%
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