DBDlloyds 18 Posted September 19, 2017 Hi guys, another question with ref to VAT if someone would be kind enough to answer it. I remember seeing a thread on here when I started a few months ago but cant find it now. It looks as if i to am going to need to register for VAT at some point. This is my understanding of how it works, I would appreciate any comments to clarify my understanding is correct. Buy Car at £1250 - Spend £200 on prep - Sell for £1900 Now the question is do I pay the VAT on the £650 Gross profit or the £450 Nett So either £108 on the Gross or £75 on the Nett. Either way it sure eats into your profits. Your comments would be very welcome, Regards Dean. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BHM 994 Posted September 19, 2017 Yep, gross. And when you buy a shitter, spend more money putting it right than it's worth, sell it at a loss & the VAT man still wants his pound of flesh. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DBDlloyds 18 Posted September 19, 2017 Thanks for your replies guys... as I thought, certainly makes an industry thats hard enough to make a living out of harder... I now understand the feedback I got when I posted about wanting to be a trader and what I thought were negative comments at the time. Still onwards and upwards as they say, Thanks again Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jimreidvehicle 255 Posted September 19, 2017 Hi Dean Margin VAT is payable on the margin between the buying price and the selling price always. So on the example given you would pay £108.33 vat. However you can recover the VAT spent on the reconditioning costs as long as the are vat recoverable , eg MOT normally have no vat. With regards to 'it eats away at your profit' ................Welcome to our world!!! Jim Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DBDlloyds 18 Posted September 19, 2017 Cheers Jim, Thanks for the reply, yes it is a minefield that as a relative novice of a few months you don't really discover until you are living it... Having said all of that I am still committed to making it work and having this forum to read about other traders challenges has really helped to educate me. At 49 years old I have to be the old dog learning new tricks ha ha. Have a great day. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
justina3 518 Posted September 19, 2017 With the ever changing world of cars and there faults customers and there rights, trading standards and there often mind boggling way of looking at things advertising media changing daily, I think most of us would call ourselves novices. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trade vet 702 Posted September 19, 2017 VAT,I recall reading a Bernie Ecclestone biography,he was a trader/ retailer . When VAT it was introduced in 73,he got out,I think he said It would kill the profitability of his business.......I wonder how he got on afterwards ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites