VBDR1500 | Introduction: What are the conditions for claiming relief?

In order to claim relief all of the following conditions must be met.

• The supply was made on or after 1 April 1989.

• The debt is over six months old.

• The debt has been written off in the refunds for bad debt account.

• The claimant has a separate refunds for bad debt relief account (which may be maintained outside normal accounting systems) containing the following information:

  - the outstanding amount to which the claim relates,
  - the period in which the tax was accounted for and paid to HMRC,
  - the amount of bad debt relief claimed,
  - the period in which the claim was made,
  - the amount of VAT chargeable on each supply,
  - any payment received for the supply,
  - the date and number of each invoice issued; if no invoice has been issued the supplier must detail the date, the name of the purchaser and the nature of
  the supply;

• The claimant has already accounted for and paid the tax being reclaimed, via a VAT return or assessment.

• For supplies made before 19 March 1997 relief is only available, in the case of a supply of goods, where property has passed to the customer. This condition is met if the customer has sold the goods and the purchaser has acted in good faith.

• The value of the supply concerned cannot exceed the open market value.