TomasEsperanza Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 (edited) UK people: Would it be better to be VAT registered? Has adding 20% to your prices lost you any clients? Or are they all VAT registered anyway? I’m unlikely to breach the threshold of £81k, so registering is optional, but would it be financially wise to do so anyway? What do you do? Obviously there are pros and cons to either option, so I am curious to know what other UK Arch-Visualisers have deduced. What’s the prevailing wisdom guys? In case you ask “why?”, it’s because I’m thinking a little more long term now about annual investment in software and hardware updates, and about attracting the kind of clients that will facilitate this. Thus also to consider are the VAT refunds available on software and hardware. For example: an annual expense of £3k for hardware and software would be reduced to £2500. Beyond that I haven’t done many sums regarding this issue, and I’m sure there are factors I haven’t yet considered, as I am only just thinking about it. So your experience and responses would be gratefully received. Cheers, Edited August 31, 2015 by TomasEsperanza Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomasEsperanza Posted September 3, 2015 Author Share Posted September 3, 2015 Can nobody help me with this? :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomasEsperanza Posted September 8, 2015 Author Share Posted September 8, 2015 Bumpety, Bump, Bump, Bump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic H Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 i would get an accountant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomasEsperanza Posted September 8, 2015 Author Share Posted September 8, 2015 Good point; Thank you. I had considered that; and it does seem logical really. ' Guess I'm just hoping to arm myself with some basic knowledge before discussing with prospective accountant, but probably best to just ask them anyway. Cheers. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephenfranks Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Hi Thomas, NO! To begin with it is always best to avoid being VAT registered. You will have to charge VAT to your clients, some of whom may not be VAT registered, making you expensive. You also have your monthly or quarterly VAT return to deal with (when you'd rather be doing anything but). When you have to, do it. Accountancy is expensive, period. Keep it simple and concentrate on your business for as long as you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomasEsperanza Posted September 17, 2015 Author Share Posted September 17, 2015 Cheers Stephen, Thank you so much for your thoughts on this. It appears some of my concerns were justified (for the very reasons you describe). So, hence I am in no rush to VAT register now! I do still wonder how it may affect a client base; as smaller businesses will likely not be VAT registered, while larger ones will. Thus by not being registered, one may be attractive to smaller business but not larger (?) Is there anything in this theory? To link this to arch-Viz: it would be good to retain opportunities for different scale projects, rather than being saddled with mostly low budget developments. For instance, I find most skyscrapers grotesque, and a small residential developmental can have a plethora of interesting artistic and technical challenges, but a low budget job typically equates to a rushed visual. So creatively it seems pragmatic to keep job/client options open. :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic H Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 The less tax and government schemes you sign up for a a small / sole operator the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliveG Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 .........some of whom may not be VAT registered, making you expensive. Who the heck could you possibly do work for that isn't VAT reg? The very last thing I'd be concerned about is catering to clients that small. You will appear small and unprofessional to the companies who you do want work from and that is ignoring the actual offsetting benefits of being VAT reg. As Nicnic said speak to an accountant but in my experience there are more obstacles to not being VAT reg than for being so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timillustrator Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 It really does depend on who you work for. I agree that some big firms might not find you credible if you are not VAT registered but if they know you are a one man band anyway that won't matter. Some of my clients are big but can't claim the VAT back (not saying who here) so that 20% discount is a big deal to them. If you do work for private individuals (and that can still be some decent sized work in the residential field) they can't get it back either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomasEsperanza Posted October 2, 2015 Author Share Posted October 2, 2015 It really does depend on who you work for. I agree that some big firms might not find you credible if you are not VAT registered but if they know you are a one man band anyway that won't matter. Some of my clients are big but can't claim the VAT back (not saying who here) so that 20% discount is a big deal to them. If you do work for private individuals (and that can still be some decent sized work in the residential field) they can't get it back either. ' Valuable insight. Cheers Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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