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UK resident VAT
Thread poster: Karen Roberts
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 06:08
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
And... Aug 14, 2018

Tom in London wrote:
Chris S wrote:
You get 20% off everything you buy.

You don't get 20% off everything you buy. Only off whatever you buy that is strictly and necessarily required for your work as a translator, which is almost nothing apart from stationery.

And computer stuff, like hard drives and software. But if you buy that via the internet from a non-UK source (particularly true for software), the admin gets complicated again. And, the 20% that you get "off" counts as income, so you have to keep track of it and pay income tax on it.
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Really? Aug 14, 2018

Tom in London wrote:
Believe me, doing 3-monthly VAT returns, keeping the records, doing the paperwork, and making the payments would cost me more (in terms of time and nuisance) than not being registered for VAT.


If you don't do it, how do you know how long it would take?

I reckon I spend a total of about an hour a year on VAT returns.

You have to keep the same records anyway to claim expenses against income tax.

Tom in London wrote:
N.B. the tax authorities in the UK are very draconian about what are work-related expenses and what are not. If they catch you claiming expenses to which you are not entitled, you'll be in hot water.


Be honest then.

But they are not draconian. People get away with all kinds of stuff. I do it by the book, so I have nothing to fear anyway. You have to be really actively taking the piss for them to bother with it.

Tom in London argued that he hardly buys anything anyway


You'd be surprised. There are lots of little things that have VAT on them. I've reclaimed over £15,000 over the years. Hardly small change. And I'm not one to have the latest HW and SW either, which is where the big savings are.

But yes, Tom, if you really have total annual expenses of 26p then it isn't worthwhile.


Edit: That's £15,000 net. It could be twice as much gross.


[Edited at 2018-08-14 12:40 GMT]

Joe France
2GT
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:08
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Off topic Aug 14, 2018

We seem to be wandering off-topic. To return to the original question:

Assuming you are a UK taxpayer with no income from anywhere else, you are not required to be registered for VAT if your turnover is less than £85,000.

Don't let an ill-informed Spanish accountant tell you anything different!

I think that was the point.

Thomas Pfann
 
Marijke Singer
Marijke Singer  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 06:08
Member
Dutch to English
+ ...
I am VAT registered and also an Ltd. now Aug 18, 2018

Chris S wrote:

As I always say in these discussions, I cannot see any good reason for a freelance translator not to register for VAT. The admin is negligible and you get 20% off everything you buy. What’s not to like?


The VAT paperwork takes 3 hours at most every 3 months. Although it is true that my overheads are very low (and therefore the VAT I get refunded is very low) and most of my customers are outside the UK (and therefore the VAT I collect is low), it saves a lot of time explaining to agencies/customers in the EU why I don't need a VAT number. Happy customers mean more work for me. I wonder what will happen after Brexit?
 
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