VAT registration can be painful for businesses that sell to consumers rather than to other businesses.  Either prices need to be hiked up by 20% in order to charge the VAT on top, or the VAT hit has to be swallowed.  If you break the VAT threshold in any 12 month period, you have to register for VAT within a month.  However if you can prove your next 12 months will be under the threshold, you can ask HMRC to not register you.  Professional help at the earliest possible time could save thousands of pounds in such cases.  Especially when considering that VAT deregistration cannot usually be back dated to before it is asked for.

As with all of our tax tips and web pages this information is necessarily summarised and of a general nature.  If you would like detailed specific advice please contact us.