VAT deregistration. Second hand goods.

VAT deregistration. Second hand goods.

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scdan4

Original Poster:

1,299 posts

161 months

Thursday 29th January 2015
quotequote all
We are in the process of looking to deregister from VAT.

We understand that we need to pay VAT on goods and equipment that we currently own that we have paid VAT on - that is not a problem per se, but we have quite a few bits of equipment that we bought second hand (from a variety of sources, ebay, gumtree etc) from non-business vendors.

Do we consider the market value and thus the VAT on these pieces of kit when we work out how much to pay / we owe HMRC to deregister or not?

My current thinking is No, we don't, as no VAT was paid/reclaimed in the transaction which gained us the equipment in the first place.

There are no "big ticket" items (50 to 100 quid typically), but they are fairly numerous (30 odd) and we would like to do it right (as we assume that deregistering will set off an alarm somewhere and attract an audit.

We would ask our accountant but we've asked so many questions already this morning he's gone golfing on the proceeds smile


scdan4

Original Poster:

1,299 posts

161 months

Thursday 29th January 2015
quotequote all
That's the badger.

It's not the stock, it's the assets. We make and sell ice cream. The ice cream side of it is easy, most of the machinary is easy (bought from normal big suppliers, vat reclaimed, value today and work out vat owed on that).

But, for example, we have a lot of domestic upright freezers (for storing stock) that have been bought, second hand, from here, there and everywhere. They are not stock to sell (we'd not sell them, as we run them until they break and then bin them) and are relatively worthless (no shelves or baskets as we strip them out and throw them away), are tatty and scratched etc.

We never reclaimed any vat on purchase as they were invariably from private individuals - all receipts are kept and in the filing - and are not intended ever for sale. Do we have to assess their current market value and pay vat on that even though none was ever paid/reclaimed to begin with?

There is enough of these things knocking about to make a difference to the size of payment we have to make. It seems counter-intuitive to me to have to pay vat on items it was never reclaimed on and were never intended for sale.

We are continuing to trade and see no reason (touch wood) why that will change, so these items will not be disposed of.

scdan4

Original Poster:

1,299 posts

161 months

Thursday 29th January 2015
quotequote all
Excellent.

Thank you very much Eric, it is very much appreciated.

Hooray for that. smile