Firstly, to be self-employed in the eyes of the revenue, you have to have more than one ‘major’ source of invoiced income. That cannot be a salaried job plus a bit of part time flying instruction or whatever.
In addition, to be a self employed instructor, invoicing several students, surely this would involve you to become fully and personally approved and fully insured for public liability etc etc would it not? (that is a question, not a statement of fact)
The advantage of being VAT registered is very much a two-way thing and advice should be taken. There are a number of ‘levels’ of VAT registration such as cash accounting etc and it is not that simple.
If your VAT return shows one-way traffic you will very quickly find yourself under the microscope and could end up paying back the lot.
The VAT people have immense powers, and becoming VAT registered to exploit a perceived loophole should be avoided at all costs!
Salaried jobs ARE out there....Keep life simple and go down that route would be my advice!!
Tangling with the VAT man is not a good idea, they do not mess about, and know every trick in the book… backwards.
Now, to go back to Andy's question...to claim back VAT on a purchase, it must be directly related to the activities for which your company is registered for VAT...and I bet it's not!!.... Sorry!
Last edited by clear prop!!!; 5th Mar 2008 at 22:23.