My client started a restaurant in September last year and has just registered for VAT. Im preparing the first VAT return and also putting together the books from scratch. I know that my client can claim for pre-registration input VAT on goods and services. What Im not sure of is what expenses I can claim the VAT on e.g. the food stock and alcohol?
You can claim input VAT on goods purchased prior to registration as long as your client still has the goods in stock at the reg date. For example input VAT on alcohol purchased prior to registration can be reclaimed as long as this has not been consumed prior to registration.