I have a partnership using the Flat rate scheme for vat. They are incorporating, new vat number etc. I assumed originally that they would not qualify for the 1% reduction for the new company but on closer inspection I can't seem to see anything that says no and this is a new company registering for the first time?
Spoken to a VAT helpline and again not 100% clear. Any thoughts on this would be welcome :-)
Thank you.
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Yes
I did an online registration recently for a similar scenario - partnership changing entity to limited. As part of the process, a message came up on screen advising me that the 1% discount would apply. (I, too, was slightly surprised.)
I just wish I had taken a screen shot of it at the time, as the narrative was not repeated anywhere on the documentation I was able to save when the registration was completed.
HTH :)
I can never find anything that says they wouldn't qualify
It relates to the first year of a new VAT registration so we always apply it to clients who are starting a new limited company etc.
GO FOR IT!
You might find some resistance, but persist
Not long after the Scheme was introduced, I made a similar "claim" on behalf of a company. HMRC tried several times to disallow the discount, on the grounds that the business had been transferred as a TOGC and the effective date of registration was therefore that of the partnership. And indeed in that case the VAT number had been transferred - nevertheless, HMRC were eventually persuaded that the 1% discount must apply because it is given during the registered entity's first year of registration. The TOGC status etc was irrelevant because the company did not exist until just before incorporation of the partnership and therefore could not in fact have been registered from any earlier date. As I say, they took some convincing but we got there in the end.