From 1 October 2019 the way VAT is accounted for in the construction industry is due to change dramatically.
To help members learn more, the Preston, Liverpool and Manchester Hub held an event this summer with talks from Victoria Delafaille, managing director of Exchequer Accountancy and a qualified chartered tax advisor, and Emily Lightfoot, the firm’s SME consultant.
From October it will be the responsibility of the recipient of specified construction services to account for the VAT, rather than the supplier.
The measure is being introduced to combat “missing trader fraud” which poses a significant risk to the government in unpaid VAT. This measure will impact on up to 150,000 businesses in the construction and building sector.
HMRC says the biggest impact is to the cashflow of small businesses which use the VAT charged as working capital before paying it over on their quarterly VAT return.
Another event is planned in Warrington in October.
For details of the changes visit: www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-domestic-reverse-charge-for-building-and-construction-services.
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