[Neil Williams]

The flat rate scheme is nothing to do with the threshold for registration.
It's too late to go into all that

[jim mca]

John

Would having 2 Ltd companies both involved in cleaning not still be classed as tax avoidence unless they traded from different
addresses with own equipment and contact details

[david washbrook]

John I own the 1 company and me and my partner are partners in the other company both have there own vehicles and own bank accounts and equipment and buy their own chemicals is this still classed as vat avoidance

[Paul Heath]

The 'nice' vat man works out your turn over over a rolling 12 month period if at anytime this goes over the threshold then it's time to register. One advantage is you can claim back up to 5 or 3 (can't remember) years worth of purchase on your 1st return, but that is probably about the only time you will get anything out of them!
I would be very concerned about running 2 vans doing the same job from the same premises etc, like Steve said if you set up one as a ltd company, that then would be its own legal business, surely it would be an advantage to register for vat and group it all together, but you know your own business the best. I don't think they allow you to trade as 2 different business's offering the same service, thought they had closed that loophole, as Cameron needs all the money he can lay his hands on !

Billy re your ironing service.....my thongs had stains on them when you returned them...could you through some light on this please

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

John I own the 1 company and me and my partner are partners in the other company both have there own vehicles and own bank accounts and equipment and buy their own chemicals is this still classed as vat avoidance

Dave, you could be in trouble with this - in both instances you are a self-employed individual, partnership or not, and you would be assessed for tax based on both companies combined profit - likewise with vat.

[John Kelly]

Dave as Steve says. One must be a limited company which is its own entity.

[William McCafferty]

You could of course franshise your business to delay when you have to pay vat, for instance you build your round up to a turnover of £70k you franshise this one out and take 20% from it in commssion.

You then start up another business and repeat.

You only have to now registered for vat when your commission reaches the vat threshold, if you then went on the flat rate scheme this would limit what you pay.

You should be able to get to 5 franshisees before you reach the vat limit.

[Steve Chapman]

I was told by my accountant that its possible to have a different limited company for each of your services and be a director of each, and that way each company is totally separate and has its own threshold for vat.

Not sure about doing it but he is a chartered accountant, so seems to be in the know.


Steve

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

I was told by my accountant that its possible to have a different limited company for each of your services and be a director of each, and that way each company is totally separate and has its own threshold for vat.

Not sure about doing it but he is a chartered accountant, so seems to be in the know.


Steve

Not if they all operate from the same premises and use the same equipment Steve

[Simon Gerrard]

The best people to ask about this is HMRC, that way you can be sure you're operating legally.
The problem is if they catch up with you, and they will, they have sweeping powers and can back charge you all the vat, plus penalties because you could be breaking the law.  A sobering thought and one well worth a phone call.

Simon

[Steve Chapman]

Steve that's true, but not hard to have separate office addresses, and if it was a different service it wouldn't be difficult to separate the equipment or maybe lease the equipment from one company to the other 

Steve

[clarkson]

Hi Mark
 take a look at the flat scheme, its simpler to operate than the normal vat scheme and you will actually bebefit money wise from being on it.

 it only applies from vat threshhold to about 150,000 i think, ideal for you.

 cheers

john

[clarkson]

I was told by my accountant that its possible to have a different limited company for each of your services and be a director of each, and that way each company is totally separate and has its own threshold for vat.

Not sure about doing it but he is a chartered accountant, so seems to be in the know.


Steve

Not if they all operate from the same premises and use the same equipment Steve


hi steve
agreed, any connection really whether ltd. or not, i have tried every possible variation to split my domestic from commercial no go on all counts.

cheers

john

[Steve Chapman]

I think part of the key is having other people on the company as directors but minor share holders ( so they dont have the same say over running the business )  this way its a totally different business and legal entity and hmrc cant force you to combine it with another business.

its not unusual for business people to be directors on several companies, but still maintain a controlling share of each.

Just depends I guess whether you want to go down that route and have people you trust to be involved with it.



Steve

[david washbrook]

damn this I'm packing it in this is wat to complicated for me I called my accountant today but he is on holiday until next week

[peter maybury]

My accountant said I could do it your honour!


Peter
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com

[Helen]

My accountant said I could do it your honour!


Peter
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com

Not quite sure where you're going with that comment.
One thing is for sure, even if you have an accountant who collates and submits the figures for you, it is YOU and you alone who has to face the music if the proverbial happens.
You can blame your accountant as much as you like but you will find on the forms you need to sign for submission that YOU take full responsibility for the accurrancy of the forms.
Great work if you can get it being an accountant, charge an arm and a leg for putting together some figures but with ZERO responsibility.

[AshWhite]

I'm pretty sure that's the point Peter was trying to convey..

[Dave_Lee]

My accountant said I could do it your honour!


Peter
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com

Not quite sure where you're going with that comment.
One thing is for sure, even if you have an accountant who collates and submits the figures for you, it is YOU and you alone who has to face the music if the proverbial happens.
You can blame your accountant as much as you like but you will find on the forms you need to sign for submission that YOU take full responsibility for the accurrancy of the forms.
Great work if you can get it being an accountant, charge an arm and a leg for putting together some figures but with ZERO responsibility.

That's one reason I don't have an accountant, I don't see the point as a sole trader owner/operator. Tax forms and self assessment are so simple now. The common phrase about accountants saving you having to pay tax, doesn't add up to me. Finding out what you can can't claim for is easily done by checking out customs and revenue website. It only takes a little research.
Dave.

[Jim_77]

Dave, with the absolute utmost of respect to you, hasn't your recent PPI claim made you think about reconsidering your need for an accountant?  There are so many things that could be claimed for that we probably would never think about.

I never used an accountant up until about 4 years ago, and when I did they went back through my old books and claimed a load back for me - the tax man paid ME a few years ago!!

I do my own VAT, but in addition to the SA savings they also advised me I had historically under claimed for VAT and got me a whacking great rebate on that too.