Readers’ forum: What is the tax point for registration purposes?

One of my clients owns a large residential property at a seaside resort which is rented out on Airbnb as holiday accommodation. The client is not VAT registered but his income is approaching the £85 000 annual sales threshold. My query concerns the timing of his income as far as the threshold test is concerned. Basically holiday makers will pay a part or full payment to Airbnb through an online booking but this payment will be fully refunded if the guests cancel within two weeks of the start of their booking.

Does this mean that my client will only treat the booking as a sale for VAT registration purposes at the point when the customer is no longer entitled to a refund? Or is the tax point at the end of their holiday which could fall into the following month.

Finally I am assuming that the income...