VAT1: registering for VAT by post, and when you must

Who needs it

• Anyone applying for an exception because taxable turnover has gone over the threshold only temporarily.
• Businesses joining the Agricultural Flat Rate Scheme.
• A limited liability partnership registering as the representative member of a VAT group, or divisions or business units of a body corporate registering under separate VAT numbers.
• Overseas partnerships, local authorities and parish or district councils, and insolvency practitioners registering a business.
• People who can't register online because of age, health, disability, location, religious objection or no internet access. HMRC may consider other reasons too.

What you need before you start

• A VAT1 sent to you by HMRC: you request it through the VAT general enquiries helpline, and HMRC asks you to use only a form it has sent.
• HMRC's VAT1 Notes, to help you complete it. Answer only the questions that apply to you.
• Limited company: company registration number, UTR, business bank details, turnover to date and an estimate for the next 12 months.
• Individual or partnership: National Insurance number, an identity document such as a passport or driving licence, bank details, UTR if you have one, and turnover figures.
• Any extra form your case needs, such as VAT5EXC for an exception, VAT98 for the Agricultural Flat Rate Scheme, VAT50-51 for a group, or VAT2 for partners.

How to file VAT1

1. 1Check whether you must register: taxable turnover over the last 12 months went over £90,000, or you expect it to in the next 30 days.
2. 2Check whether your case is one HMRC lists as needing VAT1 by post. If not, register online, which is usually faster.
3. 3Contact HMRC for the VAT1 form, then complete it with the VAT1 Notes.
4. 4Complete any additional forms your case needs (VAT5EXC, VAT98, VAT50-51, VAT1A, VAT1B or VAT1C, or VAT2 for a partnership).
5. 5Post everything to the address shown on the VAT1.

When you must register

HMRC's threshold test runs on any rolling 12 months, not the tax year. If your total taxable turnover over the last 12 months goes over £90,000, register within 30 days of the end of the month you went over. Your effective date of registration is the first day of the second month after you went over.

If you expect taxable turnover to go over £90,000 in the next 30 days alone, register by the end of that 30-day period. Your effective date is the day you realised, not the day turnover actually passed the threshold.

You can register voluntarily below the threshold. If you go over it only temporarily, you can apply for an exception, which is one of the cases that needs VAT1.

Online first, VAT1 in set cases

HMRC says most businesses should register online, including partnerships and groups registering under one VAT number. The paper VAT1 is for the cases HMRC lists, and for people who can't use the online service.

VAT1 isn't downloaded from GOV.UK. You ask HMRC for it, and HMRC asks you to use only a form it has sent you. Postal applications usually take longer to process than online ones.

What happens after you register

HMRC posts your 9-digit VAT registration number, which must appear on your invoices, with information on setting up a business tax account, when your first VAT Return and payment are due, and your effective date of registration. HMRC also signs your business up to Making Tax Digital for VAT unless it's exempt.

While you wait for the number, you can't show VAT on invoices, but you can raise your prices to cover the VAT you'll owe. Once the number arrives, reissue those invoices showing VAT.

Scotland

VAT is a UK-wide tax administered by HMRC, so registration, the threshold and VAT1 work the same in Scotland as in the rest of the UK. Northern Ireland has extra forms (VAT1A, VAT1B) for some trade with the EU.

Common mistakes

• Posting VAT1 when the online service would do. Paper applications usually take longer, and the online service lets you save and come back.
• Measuring turnover by tax year or calendar year. HMRC's test is any rolling 12 months.
• Waiting until the paperwork is done to start charging VAT. You owe VAT from your effective date of registration, even before the number arrives.
• Registering late. HMRC expects VAT on sales since the date you should have registered, and may charge a penalty.