Businesses can reclaim pre-registration VAT incurred on goods and services before they were VAT-registered, with different time limits and rules for partially exempt businesses or those with non-business income.
– Goods on hand or used to make other goods: 4 years from date of VAT registration
– Services: 6 months from date of VAT registration
– Pre-trading VAT input tax should be reclaimed on the business’s first VAT return
– Partially exempt businesses
– Businesses with non-business income
– Purchases of capital items within the capital goods scheme
– VAT incurred on purchases for wholly private purposes before VAT registration (e.g. buying a van for personal use) cannot be reclaimed later
– HMRC’s internal guidance provides examples, such as a van purchased for private use that cannot be reclaimed later when the business registers for VAT
Source: thompsonelphick.co.uk
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
