How to register for VAT
When registration becomes compulsory, how to apply online, and what changes from your effective date — including charging VAT before your number arrives.
Last checked 22 August 2026
Before you start
The online application asks for all of these.
Your Government Gateway user ID, or an email to create one.
Your business details — legal structure, trading name, and address.
Your turnover for the last 12 months, and what you expect next.
Your bank details, for repayments.
Your National Insurance number, or company registration number and UTR
for a limited company.
Check whether you have to register
Registration is compulsory when your VAT-taxable turnover for any
rolling 12 months goes over £90,000 — the threshold since 1 April 2024,
unchanged for 2026/27 — or when you expect to go over it in the next 30
days alone. Watch the rolling total, not the tax year: the test is any
12-month window, checked month by month.
Check and register on GOV.UK →Deadline
Within 30 days of the end of the month you went over the threshold —
registration then takes effect from the first day of the second month
after.
Decide whether to register voluntarily
Below the threshold, registering is a choice. It lets you reclaim the
VAT on what you buy and can suit businesses selling mainly to
VAT-registered customers — but it adds VAT to your prices for everyone
else, plus quarterly returns. Run the numbers before you opt in.
Apply through the online service
Most businesses register online with a Government Gateway sign-in. The
application walks through your business activity, turnover, and bank
details, and you choose or confirm your effective date of registration
at the end.
Charge VAT from your effective date — even before the number arrives
Your VAT registration number normally arrives within about 30 working
days, often sooner. You must still account for VAT from your effective
date: price VAT-inclusive in the gap, explain why, and reissue proper
VAT invoices once the number lands.
Good to know
You can't show VAT as a separate line on invoices until you have the
number — but the VAT is still due to HMRC from the effective date.
Set up for Making Tax Digital and pick a scheme
All VAT-registered businesses keep digital records and file returns
through software under Making Tax Digital for VAT. At the same time,
look at the schemes: the Flat Rate Scheme trades input-VAT claims for a
fixed percentage, cash accounting follows money in and out, and annual
accounting files once a year with instalments.
Common questions
Registering, in practice
What happens if I register late?
HMRC registers you from the date you should have joined, so you owe the
VAT you should have charged from then, plus a failure-to-notify
penalty worked out from the tax and how late you were. Catching it
early keeps the bill small.
Can I reclaim VAT on things I bought before registering?
Often, yes — on the first return you can reclaim VAT on goods bought up
to four years before that you still hold, and on services from the six
months before, as long as they were for the business.
What rate do I charge?
Standard rate is 20% in 2026/27. Some supplies are reduced-rate at 5%
or zero-rated — food, books, children's clothing, most exports — and
the rate follows what you sell, not who you are.
Do I have to file through software?
Yes — Making Tax Digital for VAT covers every VAT-registered business,
whatever its turnover. Digital records plus software-filed returns are
part of being registered.
VAT-registered? Let the returns take care of themselves.
Bookfolio tracks VAT on every transaction as you record it, builds the return as the quarter goes along, and files it to HMRC under Making Tax Digital. You review every box before it goes.