Value Added Tax

There are some aspects to VAT accounting that do not require the involvement of specialists. Equally, there are many situations that do. The following is a list of VAT situations where experience tells that things can easily go wrong and we recommend our assistance should be enlisted:

• Completion of your VAT returns for you, when we can monitor long and short-term trends to make any proper disclosures to HMRC to minimise the risk of penalties and identify and pre-empt situations that may cause HMRC to raise an enquiry into your VAT affairs.
• Reviewing assessments and surcharges issued by HMRC against you to identify where the assessment/ surcharge can be challenged.
• Consultancy and planning in relation to:
  • new ventures;
  • international trading;
  • property deals;
  • seeking formal Rulings;
  • disputes with HMRC;
  • overseas business;
  • partial exemption methods;
  • corporate finance; and
  • group restructuring.
• VAT reviews, health checks and due diligence exercises either on your own VAT affairs or those of targets you are thinking of acquiring to protect you against any nasty surprises.
• Dealing with most VAT registrations and deregistrations, in particular those in relation to:
  • intentions to trade;
  • late registrations;
  • retrospective (back-dated) registrations;
  • property businesses, particularly involving the option to tax partially exempt businesses;
  • VAT groups; and
  • non-resident businesses
• Subject to your instructions, we can deal with or attend VAT inspections by HMRC, pre-inspection briefings and post- inspection debriefs.
• Advising in relation to dispute or litigation against HMRC, including:
  • reconsiderations;
  • negotiations;
  • appeals; and
  • instructions for Counsel

Where your recruitment business includes any international aspects, we use the local knowledge and expertise of the other member firms of UHY, our international network, which are located in major business centres throughout the world.