Rant VAT Payments - A Bloody Stupid System

Hey, all I'm after here is for the person who spent the best part of a week telling me how capital-bolded wrong I was to admit that it was, in fact, they who were capital-bolded wrong.

 

It's funny, innit, how your lack of time to reply only seems to affect this thread, not the others you've opined upon since mid-Thursday - and how it took you longer to find that image and post it than to simply admit your mistake. (Though, I admit, going through any VAT returns you've made in the last few years and seeing how much money you've thrown away by not claiming raw materials could take longer...)

 

I look forward to it - especially as I've DuckDuckGo'd my little heart out, and I can find nothing that states you can't claim VAT back on raw material purchases but plenty stating the exact opposite.

 

Any progress there, @edzieba? 'cos I've found another HMRC page which explicitly says you can claim raw materials as a business expense if you're self-employed.

 

I'm just after closure here - and if I'm actually wrong I'd really like to know so before I make the same mistake somewhere that matters, like on my filings to HMRC!

 

You are welcome to your opinion.

But seriously, all I want is to know whether I'm wrong or not. Everything I can find says I'm right, apart from whatever @edzieba's basing his posts on but has yet to share.

 

The last he said (not counting pasting comics) was:

Which sounds a lot t'me like he's working on a big update. I was just hoping, a week on, he might have something.

Oh, I have - 's why I pay an accountant, innit.

EDIT:
Oh, before I forget, another fun thing to add to the "VAT is bloody stupid" pile.

You need to apply for VAT as soon as you reach, or believe you will soon reach, the threshold. When you do, all invoices from that date forward need to include VAT. So far, so obvious.

But you can't actually issue a VAT invoice until you're registered and have a VAT number.

So, what do you do? You have to issue an invoice at 120% of the actual cost, wait for the VAT number to arrive - ten days and counting here - then cancel the invoice and reissue one at 100% of the cost with 20% VAT clearly marked. Like, that's HMRC's solution.

I'm just hoping that my VAT number comes through before the end of the month, but there's no guarantee...

 

I rather think you'll find that was my first post to the thread since Monday, which was also the last time Ed posted - hardly "every few days."

And no, my goal is to have @edzieba either share citations for his previous claims or confirm that he was mistaken. It's not about "point scoring," it's about people who make a habit of telling other people how wrong they are - and let's not pretend that's limited to this thread - but who are then apparently entirely unwilling to admit when they themselves are wrong.

Personally, that's the behaviour I'd describe as childish - but, like I said, we're all entitled to our own opinions on that matter.

Might I suggest you simply stop reading the thread, if it's harshing your calm?

 

I can start invoicing again - huzzah!