Published 8 August 2026 · updated 9 September 2026 · 5 min read
VAT registration is compulsory once your taxable turnover passes the threshold HMRC sets, and optional before that. Check the current threshold on gov.uk — it is reviewed, and a number quoted on any other website including this one may be out of date.
Compulsory registration
Two tests. A backward-looking one, on rolling taxable turnover over the previous twelve months, and a forward-looking one, if you expect to pass the threshold in the next thirty days alone. The second one catches people who win a single large contract.
Register within thirty days of the end of the month in which you passed it. Miss that, and VAT is owed on sales made after the date you should have registered — whether or not you charged it to your customers. That comes straight out of margin, plus a penalty.
Voluntary registration: when it helps
If your customers are VAT-registered businesses, they reclaim the VAT you charge, so your prices are effectively unchanged to them — and you start reclaiming VAT on your own costs. If you have significant input tax, this is money back.
When it hurts
If you sell to consumers, VAT registration raises your prices by a fifth or cuts your margin by a fifth. There is no third option. Registering voluntarily "to look bigger" is an expensive way to look bigger.
Which scheme
- Standard accounting. VAT on invoices raised and received, whether or not paid.
- Cash accounting. VAT when money actually moves — kinder on cash flow if customers pay slowly.
- Flat rate. A fixed percentage of turnover, simpler, and better only for businesses with few costs. It is worse for anyone buying a lot of goods.
- Annual accounting. One return a year with instalments.
Making Tax Digital
VAT records must be kept digitally and returns filed through compatible software. Factor that in before you register, not after.
If you want us to handle it, VAT registration is one of our filing services — and if registering would be a mistake for your business, we will say so before taking a fee for it.
Nothing here is advice about your situation
It is general information about how UK company registration works, written to be accurate at the time of publication. Rules and fees change. Where a decision matters — tax, structure, an insolvent company — take advice on your own facts.