Hello, I am interested in voluntarily applying for VAT Registration in the UK. But I need to know some things. How old do I have to be? Will it add 'prestige' to my company? Also, LTD registration, how can I become an LTD Registered Company in the UK? Does it cost anything? Thanks for all help, greatly appreciated. Matt Ellis
Not sure if you'll see this, having been banned in the meantime, but, for anyone else who might be interested: I'm not aware of any formal age limit for applying for VAT registration. But, in practice, if you are under 18, you are going to have trouble signing enforceable contracts to incur any VAT in the first place. You *must* register for VAT if your annual sales are £67,000 or above and you may be able to *voluntarily* register if your sales are under £67,000. I don't think it really adds any prestige to be VAT-registered if you are under the limit. And it is a lot of paperwork, with fairly eye-watering fines if you get things wrong or late. The main benefit is that you can reclaim the VAT on things you purchase *for the business*; but you will have to charge VAT on pretty much everything you sell, making you 17.5% more expensive to other people who aren't VAT registered. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/vat-registering.htm is a good resource on all things VATable. You can register a limited company yourself, but it's more usual to pay an accountant or other specialist to do it for you -- expect to pay £30-£40. Once again, this will create extra paperwork requirements going forward that you *must* stick to. But it does give you limited liability if anything goes wrong. Interestingly, you can be a company director at the age of 16, and even this can be waived in exceptional circumstances (in England and Wales -- but not Scotland). But really, if you are starting getting into VAT and Limited Company status, you probably really do need to see an accountant who is a specialist in this field, rather than rely on advice from random strangers on teh intertubes...