Corporate body
See Glossary on page 10 for full details about Corporate body.
Are you registering as the Representative Member or nominated
corporate body of a VAT group?
This question is only relevant if you intend to register 2 or more corporate
bodies under one registration as their Representative Member
see VAT group in the Glossary on page 11 for more details.
Business contact details
Business address
This address should be in the United Kingdom (UK).
Please don’t use an accountants address, a PO box or a care ofaddress.
Theyre not acceptable and HMRC will return the form to you to correct
the entry.
Non-UK addresses
If you’re applying to register for UK VAT but are abroad, you may deal
directly with HMRC or appoint a tax representative in the UK.
To register direct with HMRC, please send your application form to:
HMRC VAT Registration Service
Crown House
Birch Street
Wolverhampton
West Midlands
WV1 4JX
To appoint a tax representative to handle your UK VAT affairs, please
complete form VAT1TR. Go to www.gov.uk/government/publications/
vat-appointment-of-tax-representative-vat1tr
Other contact details
Please provide a phone number in case we need to contact you.
5
3
4
About
the business
VAT1(Notes) Page 1 HMRC 04/17
These notes will help you answer questions on form VAT1 Application for
registration.
The notes are numbered to correspond with the questions on the form.
If you need more space to give an answer, please write on a separate sheet
of paper and make sure that you add the name and address of the
applicant at the top of each sheet.
The checklist on page 8 will help you to make sure you include all relevant
information, including any other documents.
Details on where to send your application are given on page 9.
A glossary of the terms used is included on pages 10 and 11.
Notes to help you apply for VAT registration
Applying to register for VATVAT1(Notes)
Business activities
Provide a full description of all your business activities including:
the type of goods and services that you supply
whether your supplies are retail or wholesale
By full description we mean that you need to specify what it is that you do.
Avoid generic terms, for example, instead of:
‘building services’, enter ‘plastereror electrician
consultancy’, enter ‘management consultancyor ‘financial consultancy
If you’ve not started trading
Please enter details of your intended business activities.
If your business has more than one activity
Enter any other activities in the ‘Other activities’ box.
If your business activities relate to the buying, selling or letting of
land or property
HMRC require further information about this involvement and you should
complete and submit a VAT5L VAT registration - land and property form
with your VAT1 Application for registration.
If you wish to opt to tax land or property you’ll need to complete either
a VAT1614A Notification of an option to tax land and/or buildings or a
VAT1614H Application for permission to opt. For more information see
the online VAT5L or VAT Notice 742A Opting to tax land and buildings.
Are you (or any of the partners or directors in this business) currently
involved, or in the last 2 years have been involved, in any other business
in the UK or Isle of Man (VAT registered or not) either as a sole proprietor,
partner or director?
Include any other business where partners or directors of the business
have been involved and are making this application.
If the only previous involvement of the directors was with companies that
were members of a corporate group, you need only enter the names of
the holding companies.
If you’re registering a company that is part of a corporate group, you need
only enter the name of the holding company.
If any of the holding companies you enter are VAT registered or are part
of a VAT group, enter their VAT Registration Numbers.
UK bank or building society account
This must be an account held in the UK and the account name must
match the business name you’re registering with HMRC.
HMRC will repay any VAT owed to the business electronically, direct into
the account.
Please note, some accounts cannot receive payments electronically, so
please check with your provider if you’re not sure whether yours can.
If you’re in the process of opening a business account, you must provide
copies of any relevant correspondence received from your bank or
building society.
If you dont have a UK bank account, please explain why on a separate
sheet of paper.
7
8
6
Page 2
Forms and Notices are
available online:
Go to www.gov.uk and
enter the form or notice number
in the search facility.
Are you registering for VAT because you’ve:
taken over (or are about to take over) a business (or part of a business)
as a going concern
changed (or are about to change) the legal status of a VAT registered
business
A transfer of a going concern (TOGC) is where you take over a business or
part of a business, whether or not you intend to continue to run that
business in the same way.
By change of legal status’ we mean a change, for example, from a sole
proprietorship to a partnership or limited company.
How to work out your effective date of registration
To work out the effective date of registration you must first work out
whether you need to register for VAT.
Look at the value of the goods and services sold by the transferred
business or part business in the 12 months before the transfer.
If you were already the owner of a business, add the value of any goods
and services you’ve supplied in the 12 months before the transfer.
If the total is over the registration threshold, you must register within
30 days of the transfer.
Your effective date of registration will be the date the transfer
took place.
If the total is below the registration threshold, you don’t need to
register now.
However, you must obtain the turnover records of the transferred business.
You must then check the combined value of any goods and services
supplied each month to see whether you go over the threshold. See page 5
for You may need to keep checking your turnover.
Do you want to keep the previous owner’s VAT number?
In certain circumstances you can apply to keep the previous owner’s
VAT Registration Number.
If we’re able to reallocate the number to you, you will:
be responsible for accounting for all the VAT due in the whole tax
period that ends after the date of transfer not just from the date
you took over
be responsible for all VAT declarations that were made before
the transfer
have to correct any errors and pay any interest that may be due
(but not any penalty)
If we cannot reallocate the number to you, we’ll issue a new number.
If you want to keep the previous owner’s VAT Registration Number, you
must send a completed form VAT68 Request for transfer of a registration
number with this application form.
Go to www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-request-for-transfer-of-
a-registration-number-vat68
For more information about taking over a going concern, please refer to
VAT Notice 700/9 Transfer of business as a going concern.
12
9
Applying to register for VATVAT1(Notes)
Page 3
About your
VAT registration
Taking over a
going concern
Are you applying for voluntary registration because your turnover is
below the registration threshold?
Businesses that register for VAT usually do so because either their taxable
turnover has gone over the registration threshold sometime in a previous
12 month period, or because they expect it to do so in the next 30 days.
We explain these scenarios in more detail at notes 14 and 15.
However, you can apply to register for VAT voluntarily when:
your turnover doesn’t go over the registration threshold
you intend to trade but your business has not started yet
If this applies to you, enter the date from which you would like to be registered.
If the date entered is earlier than today, please make sure that it’s no more
than 4 years before the date of your application.
Please note that we may ask for evidence from you about the supplies that
you’re making or intending to make.
Important the VAT registration date is important. Its a fixed date
from which you must account for output tax on all your taxable supplies.
HMRC will not change it simply because this is a voluntary registration.
Changes to registration dates may be made in exceptional circumstances.
Are you registering because your taxable turnover has gone over the
registration threshold in any past period of 12 months or less?
Taxable turnover for VAT is the total value of your supplies (usually sales
of goods and services – see Glossary on page 11) that are taxed at the
standard, reduced or zero rate. (The supply of goods and services that are
exempt from VAT isn’t part of your taxable turnover.) A supply (other than
an exempt one) is referred to as a taxable supply even if youre not registered.
If the value of your supplies in any past period of 12 months or less has
exceeded the VAT registration threshold, you must tick Yes’ to question 14.
Important you must complete and send form VAT1 within 30 days of the
end of the month in which your taxable turnover went over the threshold.
You may have to pay a penalty, in addition to any VAT that is due, if you
don’t register for VAT at the correct time.
Your effective date of registration will be the first day of the second month
after your taxable supplies went over the registration threshold. For example,
if you went over the threshold on 31 August, you would have to tell us by
30 September and your registration date would be 1 October.
If you also answer Yes’ to question 15 your effective date of registration
will be the earlier of either the first day of the second month following
the date shown in question 14 or the date shown at question 15.
Taking the example above, if you’re notifying us on 15 September that you
went over the threshold on 31 August your registration date would
be 1 October. If you answer Yesto question 15 anticipating that you will
exceed the threshold on:
23 September (within 30 days from 15 September), then this will be
your effective date of registration because its earlier than 1 October
8 October, then your registration date will still be 1 October because it
is the earlier of the 2 dates
14
13
To find out the current
VAT thresholds and rates:
phone our VAT Helpline on
0300 200 3700
go to our website at
www.gov.uk and look for
VAT thresholds and rates within
the search facility
Applying to register for VATVAT1(Notes)
Page 4
Voluntary
registration
Compulsory
registration
Applying to register for VATVAT1(Notes)
Are you registering because you had an expectation on any date that
your taxable turnover would go over the registration threshold in the
next 30 days alone?
Tick Yes’ to question 15 if:
the value of your taxable supplies you expect to make in the next
30 days mean that you’ll go over the VAT threshold
at sometime in the past, you expected the value of your taxable supplies
to go over the threshold in the next 30 days alone
This could happen when, for example, a business plans to run an exhibition
and anticipates selling so many tickets it expects to go over the VAT
threshold. Another example might be a business winning a big contract to
supply goods or services, which would mean substantially increasing its
planned supplies over the next 30 days.
Important you must complete and send form VAT1 within 30 days of
the day when you first considered you might go over the VAT threshold.
This means that you must register before your taxable supplies go over
the threshold.
Effective date of registration
Your effective date of registration will be the date you first had an
expectation that you would exceed the threshold in the next 30 days.
For example, if its 20 January and you expect to go over the threshold in
the next 30 days, you must complete and send form VAT1 by 21 February.
Your effective date of registration would be 20 January.
If you’ve answered Yes’ to questions 14 and 15, your effective date of
registration will be the earlier of either the first day of the second month
following the date you give at question 14 or the date you give at question 15.
If you’ve answered ‘Noto question 14 and Yes’ to question 15 your
effective date of registration will be the date you give at question 15.
If you don’t expect to go over the VAT threshold
Tick ‘No’ to question 15, but keep checking your turnover.
If you work through the form and answer all the questions that apply to
you, you may discover that you don’t need to register for VAT now, as
you’ve not gone over the threshold. If this happens, please check your
turnover regularly, once a month.
Each month look at your answers to questions 14 and 15. Question 14
refers to your turnover in the past. Question 15 refers to your turnover in
the future.
If you go over the threshold, you’ll have to apply to register for VAT.
You will only have 30 days to complete and send in your application.
Remember: If you’ve taken over a going concernand didn’t need to
register at the date of change, you must still include the turnover of that
business before the transfer. Make sure that you factor this in when
checking your turnover.
As explained at the notes for question 9, you must obtain the turnover
records of the transferred business.
15
Page 5
You may need to keep
checking your turnover
Applying to register for VATVAT1(Notes)
Are you registering because you’re a non established taxable person
making or intending to make taxable supplies in the UK?
Businesses without an establishment in the UK are required to register
and account for any UK VAT to HMRC if:
they make taxable supplies in the UK of any value
they expect to make taxable supplies in the UK in the next 30 days
A business not established in the UK will be required to register from the
earliest of the date that it made or formed an intention to make taxable
supplies in the UK in the next 30 days. In either case a non established
business has 30 days from that date to notify HMRC that it is required to
register for VAT.
Do you want to apply for exemption from registration?
You can apply for exemption from registration if your taxable supplies
are all or nearly all zero-rated. (Look up ‘Zero-rated supplies’ in the
Glossary on page 11.)
If zero-rated supplies along with standard and reduced rate supplies are
involved, you’ll need to show us that you’re going to be in an overall
repayment position over the next 12 months. HMRC will consider your
application for exemption. In case HMRC doesn’t grant exemption make
sure that you answer question 19. Complete form VAT1 in full so we have
information to help us make a decision about granting exemption.
Application for earlier registration
Some businesses may benefit from registering for VAT earlier than the
date they become liable to register. For example, you may wish to claim
back the VAT you were charged for expenses connected with setting up
your business. Subject to certain conditions, you can reclaim VAT on:
goods you bought for your business within the last 4 years
provided you’ve not yet sold them
services you received not more than 6 months before your
registration date
Enter the date you want to be registered from, if this is earlier than the
date you’re required to be registered. (But we cannot accept a date earlier
than 4 years from the date you’re required to be registered.)
Important if you ask for an earlier date than the one on which you’re
obliged to be registered, and HMRC agree to it, you’ll have to account
for output tax on all your taxable supplies from the earlier date. Once we
have agreed the date, it cannot be altered later (unless we find out you
were liable to be registered from a date earlier than the one we agreed).
Do you expect the VAT on your purchases to regularly exceed the VAT
on your taxable supplies?
This question is about whether the business is likely to get regular
repayments from HMRC because the taxable supplies are mainly
zero-rated.
If you’re intending to ask for exemption from registration (question 17),
you should answer this question now, in case exemption isn’t granted.
17
18
19
16
Page 6
Exemption from
registration
Earlier
registration
VAT repayment
Applying to register for VATVAT1(Notes)
Enter your estimate of your taxable supplies in the next 12 months
To work out an estimate of your taxable supplies, look at your taxable
turnover over the last 12 months.
Taxable turnover for VAT is the total value of your supplies that are taxed
at the standard, reduced or zero rate. The supply of goods and services that
are exempt from VAT isn’t part of your taxable turnover. If you’re aware of
any orders and changes to your business that will affect that turnover,
those factors should be reflected in your estimate.
Do you expect to make any exempt supplies?
Please refer to examples of exempt supplies on page 10.
Do you expect to buy goods from other EU member states in the
next 12 months?
If Yes’, enter the value of goods you expect to buy in the 12 months
following your date of registration.
Do you expect to sell goods to other EU member states in the
next 12 months?
If Yes’, enter the value of goods you think you’ll sell in the 12 months
following your date of registration.
Do not include the value of any services unless theyre directly related
to moving goods (for example, commission, freight insurance, and so on).
Applicant details
HMRC are responsible for the care and maintenance of tax and have
a duty to protect the revenue. As a consequence HMRC needs to identify
the ‘natural person’ behind any VAT registration.
The person(s) detailed below must provide their full name, home address,
date of birth and National Insurance number (or Tax ID if the applicant is
a foreign national). If you provide a Tax ID you must supply 3 items of
documentary evidence as proof of identity. These 3 items must be:
1 copy of government issued photo identification, such as a passport,
photo driver’s licence or national identity card, and
2 copies of correspondence which includes your name and address,
such as a bank/credit card statement or a recent utility bill
Please send photocopies not original documents as original documentation
cannot be returned.
Capacity in which you sign the application
For sole proprietors
The sole proprietor, that is, the owner.
For partnerships
The full details and signatures of all partners must be provided on a form
VAT2. Go to www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-partnership-
details-vat2
Faxed or photocopied forms are not acceptable.
For corporate bodies
A director or company secretary.
22
23
20
21
Page 7
Your turnover
Applicant details
and declaration
Applying to register for VATVAT1(Notes)
Using this checklist will help you to make sure that you’ve completed the
form correctly and included any other forms and documents we have
asked you to send.
If you’re not sure what to do, read the notes to the questions, as
appropriate, or phone our VAT Helpline on 0300 200 3700.
Form VAT1 in all cases
Check that you’ve:
1. included your full name (question 23)
2. included your National Insurance number (question 23)
3. included contact details (question 23)
4. signed and dated the form (question 24)
Form VAT1 in some cases
If the business is a corporate body (question 3)
Check that you’ve entered details from the Certificate of Incorporation
If you’ve given information on separate sheets of paper
Check that the applicant's name and address is written at the top of each sheet
Check which forms you need to send to HMRC with form VAT1
Form VAT2
Applies if the business is a partnership (question 1)
Forms VAT50 and VAT51
Applies if you answered Yes’ to question 4
Form VAT5L
Applies if the business activities involve land and property
(question 6)
Form VAT1614A
Applies if you’re seeking to opt to tax land or property and
can do so without permission
Form VAT1614H
Only applies if you’re seeking to opt to tax land or property
but require HMRC permission
Form VAT68
Applies if you answered Yes’ to question 12
You must complete this form if you’re applying to transfer an existing VAT number
Page 8
Checklist
For unincorporated bodies
An official, for example:
for members’ clubs: a secretary or chairman
for trusts: a trustee or beneficiary
for professional associations: a president or secretary, or the like
Please use the checklist below.
24
Applying to register for VATVAT1(Notes)
Where to send
your completed
application
Page 9
Send your completed application form to the following registration units.
For all standard registration applications send to:
HMRC VAT Registration Service
Crown House
Birch Street
Wolverhampton
West Midlands
WV1 4JX
For applications to register a VAT group or if you wish to keep the
previous owners VAT Registration Number (where you’ve answered
Yes’ to question 12 on the application form) send to:
HMRC VAT Registration Service
Imperial House
77 Victoria Street
Grimsby
DN31 1DB
Applying to register for VATVAT1(Notes)
Page 10
Corporate body definition
A group of individuals identified by a particular name
which acts as a single legal entity.
Included here are:
Limited companies (and overseas equivalent)
Companies set up by Royal Charter, Letters Patent
or Acts of Parliament
Limited Liability Partnerships
European Economic Interest Groupings
Friendly, industrial and provident societies.
European Union - the following countries are
members:
Exempt supplies are business supplies that don’t
attract VAT at either standard, reduced or zero rate.
Theyre not part of your taxable turnover for VAT.
If you’re registered for VAT and make some exempt
supplies, you may not be able to claim back all of
your input VAT.
Exempt supplies continued
Most supplies of goods and services in the UK
are taxable supplies unless they’re specifically
excluded by law these are exempt supplies.
Examples include:
some types of selling, leasing and letting land
and buildings
insurance
betting, gambling and lotteries (but not fruit
machine takings)
providing credit
certain education and training
fund raising events by charities
subscriptions to certain membership organisations
the services of doctors and dentists
certain services from undertakers.
Guidance is available on all exemptions in the library
section of www.gov.uk or by phoning our
VAT Helpline on 0300 200 3700.
Input tax is the VAT you pay on the goods and services
you buy to use in the course of your business.
Output tax is the VAT you charge on your
taxable supplies.
Reduced rate these are taxable supplies on which
the current VAT rate is 5%. Examples include:
supplies of domestic fuel or power
installation of energy-saving materials.
This list isn’t exhaustive and more information
regarding reduced-rated supplies can be found in
the library section of www.gov.uk or by
phoning our VAT Helpline on 0300 200 3700.
There are some special terms that we use in relation to VAT. These are the ones you need to
know to complete your form VAT1. If you need more help, look at the notes to the questions.
You can find the VAT Notices from our website at www.gov.uk Look for the VAT Notice
within the search facility.
Glossary
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia*
Cyprus**
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
United
Kingdom
* From 1 July 2013
** Excludes
Turkish-
controlled
Cyprus.
Standard rate is the rate of VAT for most goods
and services.
Supply is the sale of goods or services including
barter.
Supply of goods is when exclusive ownership of
goods passes from one person to another.
Supply of services is when someone does something
for a consideration other than supplying goods.
Tax liability if supplies are neither zero-rated nor
exempt, they must be liable to VAT at the standard
or reduced rate.
Taxable supplies this is a legal term that many
people find confusing. In most cases ‘supplysimply
means the sale of goods or services including barter.
The law defines taxable supplies’ as any supply
made in the UK that isn’t exempt from VAT. That is,
any supply, which isn’t exempt, is a taxable supply,
whether the supplier is VAT registered or not.
Taxable supplies include those that are zero-rated.
A person isn’t required to account for VAT on taxable
supplies that are made at a time when they’re not
required to be VAT registered and are not
VAT registered voluntarily.
Taxable turnover for VAT is the total value of
your supplies that are taxed at either the standard,
reduced or zero rate. (The supply of goods and
services that are exempt from VAT isn’t part of
your taxable turnover.)
For VAT registration purposes, you need to look at
the turnover in the last 12 months or less and/or
the next 30 days alone.
See form VAT1, questions 14, 15 and 20.
Transfer of a going concern if you’ve taken
over a business as a going concern from someone
who was, or was required to be, VAT registered,
the law deems you to have carried on the business
being transferred prior to the transfer for the
purposes of establishing when you should
VAT register. The law also requires the person
transferring the business to give you the records
relating to the business being transferred, unless our
permission is given that they can keep them; if this
happens you should ask for copies of the relevant
records, which you must keep for inspection.
Unincorporated body is an organisation of people
or bodies whose members have a common purpose,
which has an existence independent of its members.
For example, clubs, associations, and so on.
See form VAT1, question 3.
Value Added Tax (VAT) is a tax on consumer
expenditure. Registered businesses charge VAT
when they supply their goods and services in the UK.
(VAT is also charged on goods, and some services
that are imported from places outside the
European Union (EU) and on goods coming into the
UK from another EU member state.)
VAT group a VAT group allows 2 or more corporate
bodies to be treated as a single VAT entity. Within the
group, there will be a Representative Member who is
responsible for accounting for the VAT of the whole
group. See VAT Notice 700/2 Group and divisional
registration for more details.
Zero-rated supplies applies to supplies such as
food, books, newspapers and young children’s
clothing. This list isn’t exhaustive and further
information regarding zero rates can be found in the
library section of www.gov.uk or by phoning our
VAT Helpline on 0300 200 3700.
Glossary continued
Applying to register for VATVAT1(Notes)
Page 11
Applying to register for VATVAT1(Notes)
Your rights and obligations
Your Charter explains what you can expect from us and what we
expect from you. For more information go to
www.gov.uk/government/publications/your-charter
How we use your information
HMRC is a Data Controller under the Data Protection Act 1998. We hold
information for the purposes specified in our notification to the
Information Commissioner, including the assessment and collection of tax
and duties, the payment of benefits and the prevention and detection of
crime, and may use this information for any of them.
We may get information about you from others, or we may give
information to them. If we do, it will only be as the law permits to:
check the accuracy of information
prevent or detect crime
protect public funds
We may check information we receive about you with what is already in
our records. This can include information provided by you, as well as by
others, such as other government departments or agencies and overseas
tax and customs authorities. We’ll not give information to anyone outside
HMRC unless the law permits us to do so.
Complaints
If you’re unhappy with our service, please contact the person or office
you’ve been dealing with. They’ll try to put things right. If you’re still
unhappy, they’ll tell you how to complain.
If you want to know more about making a complaint, please read
Complain to HM Revenue and Customs.
About HMRC
Page 12