offshore company registration

VAT Registration and Administration

Stanley Davis is now able to offer a complete VAT registration service for all appropriate UK companies. In the UK a company must apply for VAT registration if its annual turnover is in excess of £61,000. It may apply for voluntary registration where anticipated turnover is below this level if it can demonstrate a commercial reason for requiring VAT registration. In order to obtain registration for VAT in the UK however, the company must be able to demonstrate that it is making a taxable supply of goods or services in, or from, the UK. Alternatively, it is sufficient to show that the company is making supplies abroad that would be taxable supplies if made in the UK. In this case, it is normally prudent to show that the UK company is generating input tax, and does not have a tangible place of business in any other country.

Once registered, the company must complete a quarterly VAT return form, and any VAT due to be paid must be paid by the end of the following month. Once registered the UK Customs & Excise can exercise their rights of access to the books and records of the company at any time, in order to check the accuracy of the returns. This often happens when repayment is due. Penalties for late submission of the returns are harsh and become increasingly punitive with each successive late return.

Our registration service costs £200 and we can arrange for administration services for £400 per annum. Registration is given at the discretion of HM Customs and Excise, and the process can take between six and eight weeks. The VAT administration service includes completing, signing and submitting the quarterly returns, providing a UK VAT agent and dealing with inspections by HM Customs and Excise. Although we cannot guarantee registration or its continuation after inspection, we will advise on how problems associated with registering for VAT, or maintaining a VAT registration, can be minimised, if so required.

The information required for registering a UK company for VAT is as follows:

  • Company name and company registration number
  • The address of the principal place of business (i.e., where most of the day to day running of the business is carried out)
  • Description of the business activity
  • Name of director/company secretary who will sign the form.
    • Often this can be our nominee, but if not we require the name, residential address and national insurance number of the director.
  • Proof of intention to trade, i.e., copy of a sales invoice which has been raised to a customer, or a copy of a contract which has been signed by a customer
  • Anticipated annual turnover of the business
  • Bank account sort code and account number