It is crucial to register for VAT with HMRC if your business has a VAT taxable turnover exceeding the £85,000 threshold. Seldom the VAT can be registered before or when you are about to reach the threshold amount, this type of registration is termed as voluntary VAT registration. The method of VAT registration is quite simple as all you have to do is register voluntarily with HMRC when your business reaches the VAT threshold of £85,000.

Although you can register the VAT by yourself, taking the help of a financial agent or service provider would be more plausible and ensure that the whole process is carried out legally. For filing the VAT yourself, you have to go to the VAT registration page of the UK government site and fill out the VAT 1 paper forms.

For successfully registering for VAT, you will be given a VAT registration certificate entailing the confirmation for:

• Your specified VAT number
• Confirming the submission of VAT return
• Confirming the payment of VAT return
• The effective date of VAT registration

The effective date of registration is the date you cross the threshold of £85,000 for VAT registration or the date of volunteer VAT registration in case you are opting for VAT registration. You have the option to register for volunteer VAT registration if your business turnover is less than £85,000.

Some of the advantages of registering for VAT 

If your business is exceeding the turnover threshold of £85,000 within a year, then you have to register for VAT to stay within the vicinity of law. Also, it is important to fill for VAT if your VAT is about to exceed the current VAT threshold in the next 30 days to come.

Here is how you can benefit by registering for VAT

It is easy to claim for the previously paid VAT 

Registering for a VAT makes your business eligible for claiming all of the VAT back that you have paid in the past 4 years. When you register for VAT, you can claim for the VAT charged on the goods and services up to the last 4 years. However, you only get six months to claim the VAT on the goods of the previous last 4 years for the VAT registered for the current year.

You can also claim VAT refunds 

After successfully filing for the VAT, you can claim back the VAT you spent on different goods and services in the UK. You can even claim all the amount of VAT that you were charged in the VAT over the past year. Your VAT refund can amount to a lot if you paid a large amount of input tax for your business but the output tax charges were not that much. This type of scenario is usually observant in case of money invested in the purchase of business assets, machinery, tools, and other providing other essential business services.

Better growth of your business 

By filing voluntarily for VAT, the threshold for VAT does become a matter of concern later on. This also sets your business in motion as it shows your clients that you are aiming toward exponential growth by complying with different tax regulations of the UK government.

Also, you are not allowed to show VAT on your invoices until you get your VAT number by applying for the same. After getting your unique VAT number, you can get your invoices displaying VAT reissued.