HMRC's new VAT tool

If you are thinking about registering voluntarily for VAT, or hovering around the £90,000 compulsory registration threshold, the new VAT Registration Estimator tool from HMRC could be for you.

The tool can help you see what registering for VAT could mean for your business in terms of pricing and profits. It also signposts to a range of other VAT guidance. To use it, you input details of business income and costs — though these can be approximate — and select the appropriate VAT rate(s). You can then model what would happen if you added VAT to your current prices: if you absorb some of the VAT into your prices: or if you absorb all the cost. You can also experiment with different income and cost figures.

The tool is accessed through gov.uk guidance pages, by searching ‘Check what registering for VAT may mean for your business’. It’s free to use and HMRC has no record of the details you provide.