VAT registration crisis is over

HMRC has confirmed that its backlog of dealing with applications for a VAT registration number has been largely resolved. A change to the law meant that many overseas businesses selling goods into the UK had to be registered for VAT from 1 January 2021 and that created a big surge of work for HMRC’s registration teams.

An HMRC spokesperson said: ‘We have seen a substantial improvement in our VAT registration service over the past two months. In March 94.4% of registrations were completed within 30 days against our aim of 95%. We prioritise responses from customers by email and our VAT registration phone line for urgent cases. We have increased resource to handle cases and improved our processes to provide better and sustainable service to our customers in future.’

HMRC recommends that a business should apply for a VAT number online if possible as...