Tag Archives: VAT-BNB

VAT: Input tax attribution to business and non-business activities

By   15 September 2022

HMRC has issued new guidance on the amount of input tax claimable when an element is attributable to non-business (NB) activities.

If an entity is involved in both business and NB activities, eg; a charity which provides free advice and also has a shop which sells donated goods, it is unable to recover all of the VAT it incurs.  VAT attributable to NB activities is not input tax and cannot be reclaimed.  Therefore it is necessary to calculate the quantum of VAT attributable to business and NB activities. That VAT which cannot be attributed is called overhead VAT and must be apportioned between business and NB activities.  There are many varied ways of doing this as the VAT legislation does not specify any particular method.  Therefore it is important to consider all of the available alternatives. Examples of these are; income, expenditure, time, floorspace, transaction count etc (similar to those methods available for partial exemption calculations).

The new guidance is mainly as a result of the Sveda ECJ case.

The definition of business and NB here.

Legislation: The VAT Act 1994 Section 24(5).

Further reading

The following articles consider case law and other relevant business/NB issues:

Wakefield College

Longbridge

Babylon Farm

A Shoot

Y4 Express

Lajvér Meliorációs Nonprofit Kft. and Lajvér Csapadékvízrendezési Nonprofit Kft

Healthwatch Hampshire CIC 

Pertempts Limited

Northumbria Healthcare

VAT: Top 10 Tips for small businesses and start-ups

By   17 December 2019

At some point it is likely that a small business or start-up will need to consider VAT. Here are a few pointers:

  1. Should you be registered for VAT?

If your income is above £85,000 pa of taxable supplies, you have no choice. But you can voluntarily register if below this threshold. There are significant penalties for failure to register at the correct time.

  • Advantages of VAT registration: VAT recovery on expenses plus, perhaps; gravitas for a business
  • Disadvantages: administration costs plus a potential additional cost to customers if they are unable to recover VAT charged to them (eg; they are private individuals) which could affect your competitiveness

More here

  1. Even non-registered businesses can save VAT
  • Look to use non-VAT registered suppliers, or non-EU suppliers (however, this may count towards your registration turnover)
  • If you are purchasing or leasing commercial property, consider looking for non-opted property or raise the issue of your inability to recover VAT in negotiations on the rent
  • Take advantage of all zero and reduced rates of VAT reliefs available
  • Challenge suppliers if you consider that a higher rate of VAT has been charged than necessary
  1. Consider using the appropriate simplification scheme 
  • Flat Rate Scheme (1% discount in first year of registration)
  • Cash Accounting (helps avoid VAT issues on bad debts)
  • Annual Accounting (can generate real, cash flow and/or administrative savings)
  • Margin schemes for second-hand goods

Further details here and here

  1. Make sure you recover all pre-registration and/or pre-incorporation VAT

VAT incurred on goods on hand (purchased four years ago or less) and services up to six months before VAT registration is normally recoverable.

  1. Are your VAT liabilities correct?

Many businesses have complex VAT liabilities (eg; financial services, charities, food outlets, insurance brokers, cross border suppliers of goods or services, health, welfare and education service providers, and any business involved in land and property). A review of the VAT treatment may avoid assessments and penalties and may also identify VAT overcharges made which could give rise to reclaims. Additionally, these types of business are often restricted on what input tax they can reclaim. Check business/non-business apportionment and partial exemption restrictions.

More on charities here

  1. Have you incurred VAT elsewhere in the EU?

You may be able to claim this from overseas tax authorities. Details here

  1. Do you recover VAT on road fuel or other motoring costs?

Options for VAT on fuel: keep detailed records of business use or use road fuel scale charges (based on CO2 emissions)

If you need a car; consider leasing rather than buying. 50% of VAT on lease charge is potentially recoverable, plus 100% of maintenance if split out on invoice.  VAT on the purchase of a car is usually wholly irrecoverable.

More here

  1. Remember: VAT on business entertainment is usually not recoverable but VAT on subsistence and staff entertainment is. 

More here

  1. Pay proper attention to VAT
  • keep up to date records
  • submit VAT returns and pay VAT due on time (will avoid interest, potential penalties and hassle from the VAT man)
  • claim Bad Debt Relief (BDR) on any bad debts over six months old
  • contact HMRC as soon as possible if there are VAT payment problems or if there are difficulties submitting returns on time
  • ensure that the business is paying the right amount of tax at the right time – too little (or too late) may give rise to penalties and interest – too much is just throwing money away
  • check the VAT treatment of ALL property transactions

More here

  1. Challenge any unhelpful rulings or assessments made by HMRC

HMRC is not always right.  There is usually more than one interpretation of a position and professional help more often than not can result in a ruling being changed, or the removal or mitigation of an assessment and/or penalty.

We can assist with any aspect of VAT. You don’t need to be a tax expert; you just need to know one… We look after your VAT so you can look after your business.







Charities and VAT

By   6 November 2019
Surely charities don’t have to pay taxes?

This is a common myth, and while charities and NFPs do enjoy some VAT reliefs, they are also liable for a number of VAT charges.

Charities have a very hard time of it in terms of VAT, since not only do they have to contend with complex legislation and accounting (which other businesses, no matter how large or complicated do not) but VAT represents a real and significant cost.

By their very nature, charities carry out “non-business” activities which means that VAT is not recoverable on the expenses of carrying out these activities.  Additionally, many charities are involved in exempt supplies, eg; fundraising events, property letting, and certain welfare and educational services, which also means a restriction on the ability to recover VAT on attributable costs.

These two elements are distinct and require separate calculations which are often very convoluted.  The result of this is that charities bear an unfair burden of VAT, especially so since the sector carries out important work in respect of; health and welfare, poverty, education and housing etc.  Although there are some specific reliefs available to charities, these are very limited and do not, by any means, compensate for the overall VAT cost charities bear.

Another issue is legal uncertainty over what constitutes “business income” for charities, especially the VAT status of grants.  It is worth bearing in mind here the helpful comment in the EC case of Tolsma translated as: “…the question is whether services carried on by [a person] were carried on for the payment or simply with the payment”.

Many charities depend on donations which, due to the economic climate have fallen in value at a time when there is a greater demand on charities from struggling individuals and organisations.

What can be done?

  • Ensure any applicable reliefs are taken advantage of.
  • If significant expenditure is planned, ensure that professional advice is sought to mitigate any tax loss.
  • Review the VAT position to ensure that the most appropriate partial exemption methods and non-business apportionment is in place.
  • Review any land and property transactions. These are high value and some reliefs are available. Additionally it is possible to carry out planning to improve the VAT position of a property owning charity.
  • Review VAT procedures to ensure that VAT is declared correctly. Penalties for even innocent errors have increased recently and are incredibly swingeing.
  • Consider a VAT “healthcheck” which often identifies problems and planning opportunities.

We have considerable expertise in the not for profit sector and would be pleased to discuss any areas of concern, or advise on ways of reducing the impact of VAT on a charity.

More detail on VAT and Charities for guidance

Business activities

It is important not to confuse the term ‘trading’ as frequently used by a charity to describe its non-charitable commercial fund-raising activities (usually carried out by a trading subsidiary) with ‘business’ as used for VAT purposes. Although trading activities will invariably be business activities, ‘business’ for VAT purposes can have a much wider application and include some or all of the charity’s primary or charitable activities.

Registration and basic principles

Any business (including a charity and NFP entity or its trading subsidiary) that makes taxable supplies in excess of the VAT registration threshold must register for VAT. Taxable supplies are business transactions that are liable to VAT at the standard rate, reduced rate or zero rate.

If a charity’s income from taxable supplies is below the VAT registration threshold it can voluntarily register for VAT but a charity that makes no taxable supplies (either because it has no business activities or because its supplies or income are exempt from VAT) cannot register.

Charging VAT

Where a VAT-registered charity makes supplies of goods and services in the course of its business activities, the VAT liability of those supplies is, in general, determined in the normal way as for any other business. Even if VAT-registered, a charity should not charge VAT on any non-business supplies or income.

Reclaiming VAT

This is usually a two stage process (a combined calculation is possible but it must have written approval from HMRC – Notice 706 para 7) . The first stage in determining the amount of VAT which a VAT-registered charity can reclaim is to eliminate all the VAT incurred that relates to its non-business activities. It cannot reclaim any VAT it is charged on purchases that directly relate to non-business activities. It will also not be able to reclaim a proportion of the VAT on its general expenses (eg; telephone, IT and electricity) that relate to those non-business activities.

Once this has been done, the remaining VAT relating to the charity’s business activities is input tax.

The second stage: It can reclaim all the input tax it has been charged on purchases which directly relate to standard-rated, reduced-rated or zero-rated goods or services it supplies.

It cannot reclaim any of the input tax it has been charged on purchases that relate directly to exempt supplies.

It also cannot claim a proportion of input tax on general expenses (after adjustment for non-business activities) that relates to exempt activities unless this amount, together with the input tax relating directly to exempt supplies, is below the minimis limit.

Business and non-business activities

An organisation such as a charity that is run on a non-profit-making basis may still be regarded as carrying on a business activity for VAT purposes. This is unaffected by the fact that the activity is performed for the benefit of the community. It is therefore important for a charity to determine whether any particular transactions are ‘business’ or ‘non-business’ activities. This applies both when considering registration (if there is no business activity a charity cannot be registered and therefore cannot recover any input tax) and after registration.  If registered, a charity must account for VAT on taxable supplies it makes by way of business. Income from any non-business activities is not subject to VAT and affects the amount of VAT reclaimable as input tax.

‘Business’ has a wide meaning for VAT purposes based upon Directive 2006/112/EC (which uses the term ‘economic activity’ rather than ‘business’), UK VAT legislation and decisions by the Courts and VAT Tribunals.  An activity may still be business if the amount charged does no more than cover the cost to the charity of making the supply or where the charge made is less than cost. If the charity makes no charge at all the activity is unlikely to be considered business.

An area of particular difficulty for charities when considering whether their activities are in the course of business is receipt of grant funding.

Partial Exemption

The VAT a business incurs on running costs is called input tax.  For most businesses this is reclaimed on VAT returns from HMRC if it relates to standard rated or zero rated sales that that business makes.  However, a business which makes exempt sales may not be in a position to recover all of the input tax which it incurred.  A business in this position is called partly exempt.  Generally, any input tax which directly relates to exempt supplies is irrecoverable.  In addition, an element of that business’ general overheads are deemed to be in part attributable to exempt supplies and a calculation must be performed to establish the element which falls to be irrecoverable.

Input tax which falls within the overheads category must be apportioned according to a so called; partial exemption method.  The “Standard Method” requires a comparison between the value of taxable and exempt supplies made by the business.  The calculation is; the percentage of taxable supplies of all supplies multiplied by the input tax to be apportioned which gives the element of VAT input tax which may be recovered.  Other partial exemption methods (so called Special Methods) are available by specific agreement with HMRC.

My flowchart may be of use: partial exemption flowchart 

De Minimis

There is however relief available for a business in the form of de minimis limits.  Broadly, if the total of the irrecoverable directly attributable (to exempt suppliers) and the element of overhead input tax which has been established using a partial exemption method falls to be de minimis, all of that input tax may be recovered in the normal way.  The de minimis limit is currently £7,500 per annum of input tax and one half of all input tax for the year.  As a result, after using the partial exemption method, should the input tax fall below £7,500 and 50% of all input tax for a year it is recoverable in full.  This calculation is required every quarter (for businesses which render returns on a quarterly basis) with a review at the year end, called an annual adjustment carried out at the end of a business’ partial exemption year.  The quarterly de minimis is consequently £1,875 of exempt input tax.

Should the de minimis limits be breached, all input tax relating to exempt supplies is irrecoverable.

Summary

One may see that this is a complex area for charities and not for profit entities to deal with. Certainly a review is almost always beneficial, as are discussions regarding partial exemption methods.

Please click here for more information on our services for charities.