Separating trading arrangements for VAT

The concept of a Christmas cracker is very simple: it starts as a single item full of colourful varieties and festive designs and then it is pulled in half to make it work. Well nearly half – depending on who pulls the hardest. Someone wins the prize only when it has been split.

The same approach is often relevant with VAT. There are times when an arrangement produces a VAT problem as a single deal but a better result appears when it is divided into two. Here are three festive VAT tips which I hope will provide as much enjoyment as drinking a glass of mulled wine. Well almost as much.

Cracker 1 – VAT registration

Santa Claus has a problem: he urgently needs a new roof at the warehouse where he stores his goods until he delivers them on Christmas day to the...