CHECKLIST
VAT Registration Readiness Checklist
Thirty-six things to settle before you register, in the order they need settling. The application itself takes twenty minutes. What costs money is the decisions made carelessly around it, and the reclaim most sellers never make.
- Six sections, about two and a half hours
- Includes the reclaim most sellers miss entirely
- Every rule checked against 2026/27 thresholds
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Who this checklist is for
Anyone who has crossed the £90,000 threshold, is about to, or is weighing up whether to register voluntarily before they have to.
Sellers who have just gone over
The clock has already started. Section one works out the exact month you crossed, and every date that follows from it, including the one people miss: registration takes effect from the first day of the second month after.
Sellers holding stock
You can reclaim VAT on stock you still hold that was bought up to four years ago, plus services from the last six months. On £9,000 of stock that is around £1,500 back on your first return.
Anyone considering registering voluntarily
Importers, zero-rated sellers and anyone selling mainly to VAT-registered businesses often gain from registering before they must. Section one helps you decide rather than guess.
FACTS
The two tests, and the dates they produce
The rolling twelve months everybody knows about, and the forward look almost nobody does: expect to exceed £90,000 in the next thirty days alone and you must register immediately.
36 items
Six sections
4 years
How far back the reclaim goes
FACTS
Which scheme, decided properly
Standard, cash accounting, annual accounting or Flat Rate, with the thresholds and the reason the Flat Rate Scheme rarely suits a business buying stock.