I've just got a quick question about VAT - I was hoping someone here might know the answer. If we're collecting payments on behalf of suppliers and keeping a percentage, do we have to charge VAT for the whole sale, or just our portion if the supplier is not VAT registered?
If you are charging a commission/collecting fee for debt collection you would charge your client vat on the commission. I am assuming your client has issued an invoice to their customer, lets say for £1000 and you are chasing the payment for which you charge a percentage, eg 5%. You will raise an invoice for £50 plus vat to your client. Or have I got hold of the wrong end of the stick?
Sorry, I didn't include much detail in my original post.
We would be providing a web service where suppliers can sell their services through our website. Customers will pay us, the supplier will then be able to claim their earnings from us (less say 10% - our fee). The supplier might, or might not be VAT registered, but we are.
So; if a service is sold at £100 and the supplier is not VAT registered, would we charge VAT on £100 or just the £10 coming to us (the other £90 going to the supplier who is not vat registered)?
There was a similar post about this a while back but nothing was totally conclusive but we thought it should be ok to charge vat on just the commission part...I'll try and find the post link.
Can I ask who is invoicing the "end" customer for the service?
If it's the company advertising with you, then I'd suggest there's two distinct contracts.
1. A contract between the supplier and the "end" customer for whatever service they're offering. This may or may not be vatable and I don't think it's something you need to account for because your business isn't providing the service directly.
2. A contract between the supplier and your business. In return for customer introduction / advertising they pay you 10% + vat.
However if it's your company invoicing the end customer and then the supplier invoices you for "their share", then I can see an argument for you having to charge vat on the total supply.
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Tony
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