{"id":1565,"date":"2017-09-17T11:30:42","date_gmt":"2017-09-17T11:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/how-to-avoid-the-most-common-vat-mistakes\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T10:47:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T10:47:59","slug":"how-to-avoid-the-most-common-vat-mistakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/how-to-avoid-the-most-common-vat-mistakes\/","title":{"rendered":"How to avoid the six most common VAT mistakes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStrategy, Legal & Operations<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tHow to avoid the six most common VAT mistakes\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\tKeir Thomas-Bryant<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

 VAT can cause problems from time to time. And if you’re trying to run a business, you certainly don’t want to spend your time trying to get to grips with every single detail.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, you don’t have to. You can make handling VAT easier – and avoid most VAT mistakes – if you make sure you’ve got the right systems in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6 common VAT problems<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here are some key issues to be aware of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Accuracy of dates<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You’ll need to know the ‘date of supply’ for each invoice – which isn’t always the date of sale. The Cash Accounting Scheme could make things easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. VAT applied to personal supplies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There are special rules for personal or employee supplies, including things like company cars, fuel, and also business entertainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. VAT when trading internationally<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There are different VAT rules that need to be applied depending on whether you are trading with businesses inside the EU or elsewhere. Find out more about international VAT.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Out-of-date records<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You can avoid high accountancy fees by keeping accurate and organised records making it quicker and easier to submit your VAT returns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Reclaiming VAT<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If the goods or services you supply are exempt from VAT, you cannot usually reclaim the VAT you pay on purchases related to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Incomplete VAT invoices<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You must issue proper VAT invoices<\/a> to your customers and keep VAT invoices for all your purchases. Accounting software<\/a> enables you to produce VAT invoices straight from your software in a few seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simple steps to avoid VAT problems<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few things you can do to make submitting VAT as simple as possible:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1\"<\/figure>Choose a VAT scheme<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Check whether HMRC’s accounting schemes<\/a> will make your life easier and suit your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"2\"<\/figure>Set up a VAT account<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Keep on top of VAT by setting aside a regular time each week – or each day – to update your accounting records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"3\"<\/figure>Assign a person to manage VAT<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Whether you plan to manage VAT yourself or delegate the work, make it clear who is responsible to avoid confusion and ensure consistency in your record keeping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"4\"<\/figure>Choose the right software<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Make it easier to manage by choosing accounting software that automates VAT invoicing and filing online VAT returns straight to HMRC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Small business guide to VAT<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Managing VAT can be a pain for many small businesses – but it doesn’t have to be!\u00a0Everything you need to register and submit VAT and staying compliant is right here.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet your free guide<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t1,279 readers have downloaded this guide\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 VAT can cause problems from time to time. And if you’re trying to run a business, you certainly don’t want to spend your time trying to get to grips with every single detail. Fortunately, you don’t have to. You can make handling VAT easier – and avoid most VAT mistakes – if you make sure […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":280,"featured_media":1844,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"sage_hide_published_date":false,"sage_hide_read_time":false,"sage_hide_share_buttons":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9],"tags":[28],"business_type":[4],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[77,109],"coauthors":[369],"class_list":["post-1565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-money-matters","category-strategy-legal-operations","tag-vat","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-gb","author_name":"Keir Thomas-Bryant","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2017\/08\/skender-2319_cc.jpg","imagine_tags":{"77":"Accounting software","109":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice UK","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/280"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/1844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1565"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=1565"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=1565"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=1565"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=1565"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=1565"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=1565"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}