SolvedVATREG10020 | Joint working in the construction industry - how to establish if a separate registration is needed
From HM Revenue & Customs · VAT Registration
| Stage | Action | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | Do the businesses have a joint venture agreement? | If ‘No’ then go to stage 6 |
| If ‘Yes’ then go to stage 2 | ||
| Stage 2 | Do the terms of the joint venture agreement create a partnership? | If ‘No’ then the joint venture is not a new entity, so it cannot register for VAT.\nGo to stage 6 to determine whether the beneficial owner(s) should be registered |
| If ‘Yes’ then go to stage 3 | ||
| Stage 3 | Is the partnership making taxable supplies? | If ‘No’ then the partnership is not liable to register for VAT\nGo to stage 4 |
| If ‘Yes’ then the partnership must register separately if the taxable supplies exceed the registration threshold\nGo to Stage 5 | ||
| Stage 4 | Do the parties hold purchase invoices issued in the name of the partnership or joint venture? | If ‘No’ each partner will deduct input tax in the usual way |
| If ‘Yes’ the invoices must set out clearly how much input tax each partner can recover | ||
| Stage 5 | Have purchase invoices been issued in the name of the partnership or joint venture? | If ‘No’ they cannot be used as evidence for deduction of input tax. A solution to this would be to ask the suppliers to amend the customer name on their sales invoice |
| If ‘Yes’ the partnership can claim the VAT on these invoices as input tax | ||
| Stage 6 | Will the sales or rental income be taxable? | If ‘No’ then no new VAT Registration will be needed |
| If ‘Yes’ then go to stage 7 | ||
| Stage 7 | Is legal and beneficial interest in the land held by the same person(s)? | If ‘No’ then go to stage 8 |
| If ‘Yes’ then go to stage 9 | ||
| Stage 8 | If legal title is held by one or more trustees, is the benefit of the sales, rental income, or both enjoyed by another person, i.e. the beneficial owner(s)? | If ‘No’ then either;\nThere is a single trustee who receives the benefits from the proceeds of the land, and who makes supplies above the registration threshold. This trustee will be required to register for VAT in respect of those supplies\nWhere there is more than one trustee making taxable supplies above the registration threshold they are required to register jointly. They cannot use their individual existing VAT registration numbers to account for VAT on the supplies they make jointly. We will usually register the joint trustees as a partnership |
| If ‘Yes’ then go to stage 9 | ||
| Stage 9 | Is there a single beneficial owner making supplies above the registration threshold? | If ‘No’ where there is more than one beneficial owner and they are jointly making supplies above the registration threshold, then the beneficial owners are required to register in their joint names. They cannot use their existing registration to account for the supplies they make jointly. We will usually register the joint beneficial owners as a partnership |
| If ‘Yes’ they will be required to register in respect of those supplies if they are not already registered |