VAT street

I own a VAT-registered building company but work has dried up. My last customer disappeared without paying after planning permission for a project was revoked. A claim for bad debt relief will be necessary in due course.

The local newsagent who was delighted when my last customer disappeared has now threatened to report me to HMRC. He says my company is ‘finished’ and should no longer be registered for VAT.

I don’t want to lose out on the claim for bad debt relief and I have another business idea – to buy and renovate some old houses on my street which have been empty for many years. The renovation costs will result in a lot of input tax which hopefully can be recovered.

Can my company remain VAT registered and are there any planning opportunities that would enable input tax to be recovered when renovating old...