Suppose that a business has been paying its suppliers’ invoices for many years without really giving too much thought to the VAT being applied. The business engages an accountant to assist with its VAT returns due to an increase in business activity. The accountant immediately spots that one supplier has been incorrectly charging standard rate VAT instead of the correct reduced rate of 5%. On inspection, this is a long-term issue going back many years.

The business has a problem, because the VAT legislation requires VAT to…

Working from home was slowly becoming more common before the Covid-19 pandemic; however, the various lockdowns restrictions meant that it increased exponentially in 2020 and 2021. Many employees have indicated that they do not wish to return to the office full-time, and employers appear to be willing to acquiesce to requests hybrid working patterns. As a result, working from home is likely to be here to stay. Much of the tax related guidance surrounding homeworking that has come to the fore in the wake of the pandemic relates…

The Omicron variant of Covid-19 saw new guidelines issued by the government in December. However, at the time of writing no lockdown, circuit breaker or otherwise, has been announced. As a result, many businesses will be going ahead with plans for hosting parties for staff and clients. Some may choose not to due to concerns, but may still give festive gifts, for example to the biggest spending customers during the previous year. All these things have VAT implications.

Starting with entertainment, the input tax incurred on any hospitality can…

The tax rules property businesses have changed considerably since 2010, for example the restriction of relief for financing costs to the equivalent of a basic rate tax reducer (at best). Almost all these changes have been made with the aim of making property letting less attractive. This makes it all the more important to ensure legitimate deductions are correctly identified and claimed.

One area where there is often confusion is the issue of whether work done on a property constitutes a repair, in which case the cost is allowable…

The old low value import VAT threshold of €22 was abolished in June 2021. All exports (which now include sales of goods to the EU) are subject to VAT. Where the total value of the shipment doesn’t exceed €150, the seller can opt to charge VAT at the point of sale in order to avoid the customer needing to pay import VAT in their member state, which can lead to delays.

The new Import One-Stop-Shop (IOSS) can be used for these sales, which can simplify reporting. If a business…