How to register for VAT

Not sure you have to register yet? See what counts toward the VAT registration threshold.

What do I need to register for VAT?

As a sole trader or partnership, GOV.UK asks for:

• your National Insurance number
• an identity document, like a passport or driving licence
• your bank account details
• your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), if you have one
• details of your annual turnover
• an estimate of your taxable turnover for the next 12 months

As a limited company:

• your company registration number
• your business’s bank account details
• your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR)
• details of your annual turnover
• an estimate of your taxable turnover for the next 12 months

For the estimate of your next 12 months, your turnover for the last 12 months is a fair starting point.

How do I register for VAT online?

You can usually register online, step by step:

1. Sign in to HMRC's register for VAT service. If you have no sign in details yet, you create them the first time.
2. Fill in the application. You can save it and finish it later.
3. If you are registering by choice, pick your start date carefully. You cannot change it once you are registered.
4. Fill in any extra forms your business needs. If you own commercial property and want to charge VAT on the rent, say the business is involved with land or property to get the option to tax forms.
5. Wait for your VAT number by post. HMRC checks your details first.
6. Sign up for a VAT online account. You must do this as soon as your number arrives.

You must register by post on form VAT1 in a few cases. For a builder or landlord, the likeliest is asking for an exception because you went over the threshold only for a while (how to ask).

How long does VAT registration take?

Allow 40 working days before you chase. HMRC checks your application, then sends your VAT number by post. If you have heard nothing by then, contact HMRC’s VAT Registration Service, but not sooner, or you may slow your application down. It can also take longer if HMRC needs more information from you, and HMRC will tell you if so.

For the current wait, check when you can expect a reply from HMRC, which HMRC updates every week. You are registered from your start date even while you wait, so see what to put on your invoices.

What do I put on invoices while I wait for my VAT number?

You are registered from your start date, but you cannot show VAT yet. GOV.UK: You cannot include VAT on your invoices until you get your VAT registration number, but you can increase your prices to account for the VAT you’ll need to pay to HMRC.

So on a job for a householder, tell the customer you are adding 20% to the agreed price and invoice the total. Once your number arrives, reissue the invoice showing the VAT, within 30 days.

Work for VAT registered contractors under CIS

Here the reverse charge usually applies from your registration date (not if the contractor has told you in writing it is an end user, and not on zero rated new build work). Where it applies, do not add VAT or put your price up for VAT. Reissue the invoice charging no VAT but stating that the reverse charge applies.

What a reverse charge invoice must say and who counts as an end user.

What changes once I am VAT registered?

• Your 9 digit VAT number goes on every invoice.
• HMRC signs you up to Making Tax Digital for VAT unless you are exempt, so you keep digital records in compatible software.
• You send a VAT return, usually every 3 months, even with nothing to pay. It and any payment are usually due one calendar month and 7 days after the period ends. Late returns bring penalty points.
• Most of your CIS work for VAT registered contractors comes under the reverse charge, so they account for the VAT, not you.
• Contractors work out your CIS deduction without the VAT on your invoice, and leave the VAT out of your materials cost too (before you registered, it was included).
• Since 6 April 2024, your VAT record counts toward getting and keeping CIS gross payment status.
• The VAT Cash Accounting Scheme cannot be used for reverse charge work.
• If eligible, you can join the Flat Rate Scheme when you register, but reverse charge sales are left out of it, so check with your accountant first.
• Planned from April 2029: VAT invoices between VAT registered businesses must be e-invoices sent through software, so a PDF will not count. You will also need a Direct Debit set up with HMRC for VAT, though you can still pay another way first. Neither is law yet, and some exceptions are expected.

Not registered for VAT? From 1 April 2027, an overseas business that sells your business a service, such as an online platform based abroad, is set to charge you UK VAT on it. The Budget on 28 October 2026 announced this, and it is not law yet.

Other questions about registering for VAT