VATREG18300 | Taxable supplies: when notification must be made

The time limits for when a person must notify his liability for registration are contained in the VAT Act 1994, Schedule 1, paragraphs 5 and 6. The general rule is that a person has 30 days in which to notify, but the starting date for those 30 days will vary according to what triggered his liability to register.

The backward look

VAT Act 1994, Schedule 1, paragraph 5 covers the ‘backward look’ and provides that a person shall notify his liability to register within 30 days of the end of the month the liability arose.

Example

On 22 April, the value of a trader’s suppliers in the past 12 months exceeds the registration threshold.

You can see that there is a period of time between being liable to be VAT registered and the EDR provided by law. During this period, the person is not a taxable person within the meaning of the VAT Act 1994, section 3.

The forward look

VAT Act 1994, Schedule 1, paragraph 6, which covers the ‘forward look’, provides that a person must notify his liability to register within 30 days of the day the liability arose.

Example

On 22 April, a trader expects that the value of his supplies in the next 30 days alone will exceed the registration threshold.

Guidance on calculating the effective date of registration can be found in VATREG25000.