Vat

[dudley]

I am sure this has been asked before, but I am just going to sell my honey to my local village shop, do I charge VAT or is it as I suspect zero rated?
Thanks, Steve.

Ps, Sorry you may wonder why I would be thinking of charging vat. As a farmer/ carpenter and builder I am vat registered so any invoices I raise have to show the vat even if it is zero rated item.

 

[BlidworthBees]

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channels...document&columns=1&id=HMCE_CL_000118#P67_4124

This seems to indicate ZR

 

[dudley]

Thank you. I did look on customs.hmrc.gov site earlier but could not find honey mentioned anywhere so I guess it as as you say "seems to indicate ZR" Thanks.

 

[Repwoc]

Definitely ZR:

Sweeteners

ZR

Including natural products like honey & sugar, and artificial products like saccharin, aspartame and sorbitol

 

[Vortex]

I am sure this has been asked before, but I am just going to sell my honey to my local village shop, do I charge VAT or is it as I suspect zero rated?
Thanks, Steve.

Ps, Sorry you may wonder why I would be thinking of charging vat. As a farmer/ carpenter and builder I am vat registered so any invoices I raise have to show the vat even if it is zero rated item.

Even if it was not zero rated you can only charge, and reclaim VAT if you're VAT registered, and if VAT were charged your lable or the receipt would need to carry the VAT number of the company that paid the VAT to the exchequor. Can't remember what the VAT threshold is these days as I'm no longer registered but I think it requires and income, note that income not profit, of more than £42,000 before it's mandatory.
If you were VAT registered then you could reclaim all the VAT on your outgoings hives, feed, tools, clothes, but you would need to charge it on everything you sold that was not zero rated at the rate applicable to the product.

 

[dudley]

Even if it was not zero rated you can only charge, and reclaim VAT if you're VAT registered, and if VAT were charged your lable or the receipt would need to carry the VAT number of the company that paid the VAT to the exchequor. Can't remember what the VAT threshold is these days as I'm no longer registered but I think it requires and income, note that income not profit, of more than £42,000 before it's mandatory.
If you were VAT registered then you could reclaim all the VAT on your outgoings hives, feed, tools, clothes, but you would need to charge it on everything you sold that was not zero rated at the rate applicable to the product.

As I said in my post, I am VAT registered.

But thank you to all who clarified it is ZR. So now I can put in the vat rate and amount box on my invoices a big 0

 

[RoofTops]

Being VAT registered can only be a plus for beekeepers. No VAT on your main product but you can reclaim all the VAT from things you buy in like frames and extracting equipment - and the rate will 20% next year so the savings are significant.

You can voluntarily register VAT, the turnover limit is the amount above which registration is compulsory. You can even run two buisinesses, one VAT registered one not although HMRC don't like this as they would be concerned the VAT registered bussiness was reclaiming all the VAT on input to both businesses and the non-VAT registered business doing all the selling - if that makes sense.

Of course there is a paperwork and deadlines to meet for returns but for the larger beekeeper I suggest it is a no brainer.

 

[dudley]

Being VAT registered can only be a plus for beekeepers. No VAT on your main product but you can reclaim all the VAT from things you buy in like frames and extracting equipment - and the rate will 20% next year so the savings are significant.

You can voluntarily register VAT, the turnover limit is the amount above which registration is compulsory. You can even run two buisinesses, one VAT registered one not although HMRC don't like this as they would be concerned the VAT registered bussiness was reclaiming all the VAT on input to both businesses and the non-VAT registered business doing all the selling - if that makes sense.

Of course there is a paperwork and deadlines to meet for returns but for the larger beekeeper I suggest it is a no brainer.

You have it in a nutshell.
That is exactly why as a pigfarmer I first registered. Reclaiming vat on all my expenses and not having to charge it made sense even though I was nowhere near the VAT threshold. But now I only have a couple of pigs and my sole income is from carpentry and building I should really de register.