With countless e-commerce businesses choosing to shun non-digital paperwork, especially as MTD becomes more established, locating your VAT certificate online can save you time and hassle.
And as an added bonus, you can view your VAT certificate online as soon as you’ve registered, removing any costly delays due to delivery timetables.
What is a VAT certificate?
A VAT certificate is an incredibly important document that HMRC provides to confirm that your business is officially registered for VAT. The certificate includes a number of important information including your unique VAT number and your date of registration.
All VAT certificates are distributed by local government offices such as HMRC in the UK, when VAT applies. This form of licensing allows all businesses under VAT rules, regardless of the sector they operate in, to legally file taxes, access owed tax refunds and trade with other countries.
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Do I need a VAT Certificate?
Currently, the VAT taxable turnover is £85,000. The taxable turnover will remain at this amount until March 2024. If your business turns over more than this amount, you must register your business for VAT with HM Revenue and Customs by law. Once you have registered, you will be sent a VAT registration certificate.
Do I need to register for VAT as self-employed?
Yes, every business, including self-employed businesses, must register for VAT once they reach a certain earning threshold. Remember, in the UK, the threshold is £85,000 a year and once you cross that threshold, you must register for VAT within 30 days of the end of the month.
How to access your VAT certificate online?
You will be required to login with your HMRC credentials to access your VAT certificate.
Whether you have misplaced your paper copy, have just registered your e-commerce business or simply prefer to work with digital documents, HMRC has made it straightforward to get the information you need. With delays for new VAT certificates fairly standard, business owners can wait for much longer than the estimated 10 working days for delivery. Our step-by-step guide will show exactly how to access your business’ VAT certificate today.
Step 1 – Sign In
Before you start, you will need your VAT number and Government Gateway user ID and password ready. You will have this information from when you registered for VAT.
Sign in to your Government Gateway account via the HMRC website. Security is paramount for your business. All important documents from HMRC are kept safe behind your login. It may be an extra step for you but it is also a step that those outside your business can’t take, preventing fraudulent transactions in the name of your business.
Step 2 – Find your VAT account
Once you have successfully logged in and passed through any messages from HMRC and settled on the main page you can then scroll down the page until you can see a “Making Tax Digital for VAT” section. Click on the “View your VAT account” link to take you to your account.
Step 3 – View your VAT certificate
You should arrive on your VAT account page with your account information. Scroll down to the “View VAT certificate” link and click it to view your VAT certificate.
Step 4 – View, save or print
You should have arrived at your digital VAT certificate. From here you can click on the “Print Certificate” button to save the file as a PDF or print it as necessary.
Using your account, you can also set up a Direct Debit to pay VAT, view your payments, report changes in your business, and cancel your VAT registration.
It is worth remembering that since November 2022, you can only send VAT returns using the online Government Gateway service if you also use the VAT Annual Accounting Scheme. If you do not, you must submit your returns via accounting software compatible with Making Tax Digital for VAT.
Straight-forward decisions
A printed version of your VAT certificate is sufficient for outside parties and is quick and easy to access. You may prefer to keep a physical copy for convenience, but you will always have the option to access your VAT certificate online if needed.
How long does it take to get a VAT Certificate?
Once you have registered for VAT, whether that’s online or using the paper form VAT1, you can expect to receive your VAT registration certificate within one month of submitting your application. However, the vast majority of businesses don’t have to wait that long, with 70% of applications within just 10 working days.
As you can see, finding your VAT certificate online is straightforward, but a lot of the decisions e-commerce business owners face aren’t. We can help you meet your legal obligations, meet Making Tax Digital compliance, scale your business and much more.
As you can see, finding your VAT certificate online is straightforward, but a lot of the decisions e-commerce business owners face aren’t. We can help you meet your legal obligations, meet Making Tax Digital compliance, scale your business and much more.
We are accountants who cater specifically to e-commerce businesses. We’ll provide you with an online accounting system that will enable you and us to have easy access to the latest figures at all times. We can port over your existing data from any accounting system (even Excel) and offer bookkeeping and an app advisory service as standard for all of our clients. If you are looking to take the next step, our team are always happy to help, so get in touch today.
The best time to start is now.
Related articles:
- Do you pay VAT on eBay fees?
- Complete guide to VAT for ecommerce entrepreneurs
- How to calculate VAT on Amazon sales
- Should I register for VAT as a Sole Trader?
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