VAT relief for visiting forces

[Kev F]

been asked to do a job for an american force man who says he can buy anything including my services vat exempt. Said i price the job up vat exempt and he said he would then get me a voucher to please the tax man. Now do i pay for materials including vat and claim on my vat return or should my suppliers charge me minus the vat?

 

[WoodYouLike]

You're not in the US force, so you pay materials including VAT, claim that back through your VAT return (as normal). You invoice him the ex VAT amount (VAT exempt) and file the voucher with your other financial papers as proof that you were entitled to invoice exempt VAT.

 

[Kev F]

thanks a lot for that, the more i heard about this the more it bothered me as i had never heard of this before. Cheers for the advice.

 

[Sylvan Tieger]

been asked to do a job for an american force man who says he can buy anything including my services vat exempt. Said i price the job up vat exempt and he said he would then get me a voucher to please the tax man. Now do i pay for materials including vat and claim on my vat return or should my suppliers charge me minus the vat?

I do not know the laws there but when I work for a tax exempt client such as an embassy or a house of worship I sometimes give their tax exempt number to my supplier OR I just pay the taxes and at the end quarter deduct the tax this way I have less to pay at the end of the year

 

[TicklyT]

We often present suppliers with VAT exemption certificates for other reasons. One poor guy made a mistake with the certificate we gave him.

Instead of asking HMRC about the procedure, he asked his accountant.

His accountant then charged him a £200 fee to tell him how to process a VAT exemption form worth £56!

I think I must be in the wrong business!

 

[WoodYouLike]

I would sack that accountant and find a better one, one who gives such advice for free - like our accountant does.

 

[morrik27]

Eaton, where is the job - can I assume that the guy is living in a house off base, and the work is there?

If it is, then the guy is either a dumb bum, or a liar, as they pay tax on everything they buy off base.

the only time they don't pay tax if when they pop down to the BX to buy twinkies and fill up with fuel.

Just ask him if his rent is tax free

It works in a similar way to tax free shopping overhere, when you see those tax free posters in the shop window, they pay tax at the time, then fill out a form when they leave the country for a refund.

 

[JohnD]

when people claim to be exempt, it is always worth checking first. Surely your VAT office has an enquiries number?

I once worked in a sales branch where a person asked to be invoiced VAT free because he said he was the Nigerian Ambassador.

the Foreign Office said he wasn't

 

[Kev F]

all sorted did the job last week and spoke to my accountant. I charge the customer minus the vat and reclaim the vat off the materials, customer gave me a reciept and cheque payable from the us government. Dont know quite how they get away with it as long as they still own property in the us they can own a house here and claim vat off any purchase over £100 including vat. Yet lets just screw all the hard working people who actually live here and pay everything!