VAT and indirect taxes
VAT is a tax on the supply of goods and services by a taxable person in the course or furtherance of business, with place of supply, time of supply (tax point), value of supply and rate all examinable separately. Register when taxable turnover exceeds £90,000 in any rolling twelve months (historic test, registration effective from the end of the month following the breach) or when it is expected to exceed £90,000 in the next thirty days alone (forward look). Deregistration applies below £88,000.
Distinguish zero-rated from exempt. Zero-rated supplies are taxable supplies, so fully recover input tax and count towards the registration threshold; exempt supplies do not. Land, education, healthcare, insurance and finance are typically exempt. Partial exemption uses the standard method with the de minimis test: input tax attributable to exempt supplies is recoverable if it is under £625 per month on average and under 50% of total input tax. The capital goods scheme applies to land, buildings and computers above the threshold.
Know the option to tax (irreversible for 20 years, subject to exceptions), TOGC conditions (business as a going concern, assets capable of separate operation, buyer registered), the domestic reverse charge for construction, the VAT group, bad debt relief, and the cash accounting and flat rate schemes. Outside VAT, be comfortable with SDLT on land (residential and non-residential bands, the 3%/5% surcharges and reliefs), LBTT and LTT, stamp duty on shares at 0.5%, customs duty and import VAT, and plastic packaging tax.
Trap: a disbursement (paid as agent, separately identified, exact cost recharged) is outside the scope; a recharge is a supply with output tax.