VAT problem - any advice please ??

Implimenting it would be trivial. However, I don't consider it to be an option because the essence of marketing with a web site is to keep it simple to use. Even offering customers too many choices can reduce sales. Expecting them to calculate what goods will cost after appling a discount would see them leaving in droves.

In any case, changing prices by a general notice is only permitted for 14 days from the date of a change of VAT, after which all goods must have their corrent price marked. That is, no doubt, useful in a shop, where a lot of stuff will need to be relabelled, but an ecommerce package can do it at a stroke - well almost - it takes about an hour to upload one of my sites after a revision that affects every page.

Colin Bignell

Reply to
nightjar
Loading thread data ...

A detailed circular from HMRC arrived at small businesses in rural Scotland last Thursday. It contained no surprises whatever.

But I agree, heaven help anyone who had to get the information from that appalling 'Government Portal' website.

Reply to
Ian White

I can't think there are that many businesses these days that are large enough to be registered for VAT and who don't do their accounts on a programme that would handle that seamlessly. All we've had to do is add a new VAT code,which applies 17.5%, for invoices with a tax point date in November but received in December.

Colin Bignell

Reply to
nightjar

In message , nightjar writes

Then you might want to re-read the HMRC guidance....

Should be,

- Applies 17.5 for tax point =18/11 and invoice date =18/11 and invoice date >=01/12

The software also needs to understand that any credit note received (or given) in the future needs to credit at the original rate regardless of the rates in force in the future.

Regards Someone

Reply to
somebody

So you tell every one the prices have changed and now correct including 15% VAT but you get a discount at the till. That could be kept going indefinitely.

MBQ

Reply to
Man at B&Q

In article , Owain writes

identify items liable for VAT or the amount of VAT on them. "Oh you'll need to go to Customer Services to sort that out", (they didn't), most tiresome.

Reply to
fred

One of the advantages of our manual (ish) system is it just requires changing a % on the final field of BlankInvoice.pdf

Reply to
John Rumm

While I am aware of that, it is irrelevant for us. We always invoice on the tax point date and the only supplier I have where tax point date and invoice date are not identical, always has them in the same month. However, most people send invoices second class post, so they do not always arrive in the month they were raised, so we need to be able to process invoices at 17.5% VAT even after the change..

That is another reason for having a VAT code in the system that allows us to continue to apply a rate of 17.5%

Colin Bignell

Reply to
nightjar

In message , nightjar writes

If you're fortunate enough to be able to do that, then the VAT change should be, as you suggested, fairly simple for any accounting system whether manual or computerised.

Purchases invoices are academic really, as the amount of VAT you must account for is the amount charged by your supplier and I haven't yet seen any accounts software where you cannot enter that amount. On the VAT return it does not have to be accounted for separately.

IMHO it seems that a large number of people (and I include Mr Darling) believe that VAT is only charged in the manner which you do (raise the invoice at time of supply). In retail that is almost certainly true, in many B2B firms it *can* also be true, but there is still that fair percentage of business (I guess 50% ish) where invoicing bears no relation to the point of supply.

For some of my customers it can be months ahead or even months after. One invoice can cover many different 'items' and tax points, but still be for a single job, or multiple jobs. An item raised earlier on a job might carry one tax point, but as the job progresses, the tax point on the whole job can change - and affect those earlier items.

One of my customers had some 12,000 transactions *already* tax pointed and coded but not yet invoiced, where the tax point had occurred in the week prior to the announcement.... the same week which was retrospectively covered by the changes.

A huge job on their part just to check / correct the past...without even beginning to look at how to deal with the future :-(

Regards Someone

Reply to
somebody

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.