Sony offering VAT Free products

[Pazza]

Sony style has been advertising that VAT registered companies can buy VAT free which is great as I am on a flat rate VAT scheme. This means I can all stuff direct from Sony minus VAT which works out cheaper that buying from the shops/webshops.

BUT they are not really VAT free are they Sony??

There clause says "This is subject to the requirement to account for acquisition VAT on your UK VAT return". I asked my accountant and he tells me that this means I have to pay VAT anyway - what a bummer and what's the point

[fredered]

I think its something like comanies with a turnover , or similar, greater than a large amount of money dont have to pay VAT, I am, however, almost certainly wrong

[john-boi]

What it means is that you pay the VAT up front then claim it back when you do you VAT return.


Say you paid £117.50 for your sony whatever ie £17.50 VAT then you work out your VAT and you owe them say £30 you cna then knock off the £17.50 so owe them £12.50.

It has always been like this for companies who are registered for VAT any PC equipment is a legitimate expense if you can say you use it for work such as my Geforce 6800 which I really needed for all that spreadsheet work I do at home ;-)

[Pazza]

Hi John-boi - as you mentioned, this is the "normal" way where in your example, you purchase an item for £100.00 excl. VAT - Total including VAT will be £117.50 (this is what you would pay). You then claim the £17.50 back on your VAT return. But, if you are flat rate VAT scheme (as I am), you pay a percentage on your turnover which in my case, means I don't pay as much VAT as that I invoice for - subsequently increasing my profits. But, the downside is that you can only claim VAT back on single purchases of more than £2,000. Hence, this is why the sony advert caught my eye (VAT Free!) - but as I said, this doesn't come into it. If I now purchase a gfx card for £100.00 + VAT, I can't claim the VAT back - but as long as my VAT loss is less and around £1,500-£2,000; I am still in profit instead of pay VAT at 17.5%. Sorry if it's confusing, but when as anything this goverment does make sense - this is where the accountant comes into it - I just ask him