VAT registration woes..
Oh! Good grief! Is that really the standard of response people get from HMRC’s VAT registration unit in Wolverhampton??
Let me explain. I’ve just been reviewing a copy of a letter that an accountant client received from HMRC. He had submitted an application to register for VAT on behalf of his client because they’d acquired a property as a transfer as a going concern.
Eh? I hear being muttered. The entity applying for the VAT registration had acquired a commercial property with a sitting tenant from another entity that had opted to tax the property, i.e. charge VAT on the rent.
So the accountant had sent in an authorisation for HMRC to talk to him and HMRC’s note says, in essence, before we can talk to the agent (the accountant) they have to submit a form, and it has to be the latest edition of the form. And as we haven’t received the form we aren’t sending this to your accountant. Err? Who sent me the copy? Oh! yeah! that’s right the accountant to whom HMRC haven’t sent a copy. Confused? You’ll be more confused as this story unfolds.
In addition to this they enclosed a ‘property questionnaire’ which has left me almost speechless. The questionnaire appears to have been put together randomly from parts that are provided as boiler plate text in a template without any thought for the information already held! At least two of the questions cannot be answered because they either don’t apply or none of the options applies to the situation. This is worrying because at the top of the form it says: “Any missing or incomplete information/evidence will delay your application.”
One question asks questions that can only apply to non-commercial property and given the applicant has already told them this is commercial property…
Another asks for information that was provided on the application form! {Shakes head in wonder at the lack of forethought of the person compiling the form}
See the picture of the questionnaire if you need convincing!
I can almost hear you cry: Enough! Enough! And I haven’t even posted this yet!
If you have any examples of similar correspondence from HMRC and want to vent your frustration, please comment below. I’ll consider using any tales of woe I receive in a paper to HMRC, so I’m looking forward to reading them.
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