Persistence pays

The taxpayer company applied in November 2011 to be registered for VAT with effect from 1 January 2012. The firm wrote to HMRC in February to ask for the registration to be backdated to 1 April 2009.

The Revenue refused saying the change was possible only if there had been a department error in the registration process or if there was evidence the business should have been registered from an earlier date.

The taxpayer appealed and the First-tier Tribunal noted the company was under the impression input tax would be recoverable if had been incurred within two years of registration.

Under VAT Regulations 1995 reg 111 VAT on goods bought up to four years before registration can be claimed. It is possible to backdate a claim for VAT on services by only six months.

The tribunal decided the taxpayer had made a genuine mistake in asking...