Issues
HMRC has assessed VAT it thinks you owe—often after a control visit or mark-up exercise—and the number looks too high. How a best-judgment assessment works, whether it is in time, why attacking HMRC's method rarely wins, and the pay-or-deposit rule that can block your appeal.
Issues
HMRC has refused, capped or clawed back the input VAT you reclaimed—or says your purchases were 'connected to fraud'. A plain-English guide for VAT-registered businesses: why reclaiming VAT is a conditional right, the invalid-invoice trap, blocked items, and how to appeal.
Guides
A V5 letter instead of a VAT number? HMRC's verification questionnaires decoded, the deadlines that bite, and why the tribunal can't fix delay.
Issues
Run a UK company from abroad and HMRC is querying where your business belongs? Why it's a company-level test, why being overseas can mean a nil VAT threshold, and what you can appeal.
Issues
VAT penalties work differently from income tax—including a pay-first rule that can block your appeal. This guide covers default surcharges, the new penalty regime, best judgment assessments, the Steptoe defence, and how to apply for hardship.
Issues
From January 2023 for VAT and April 2026 for income tax, HMRC uses a new penalty system: points for late filing, percentage-based charges for late payment. Here's how it works, what the tribunal has already decided, and what you can do about it.