VAT Threshold Calculator UK

The VAT registration threshold is measured on VAT-taxable turnover: broadly, the value of the taxable supplies your business makes in the UK. It is a turnover measure, so business costs and expenses are never deducted from it.

• standard-rated supplies can count
• reduced-rated supplies can count
• zero-rated supplies can count
• VAT-exempt supplies generally do not count

Do not simply use total bank receipts. Money coming into a business account can include things that are not taxable supplies at all — such as loans, capital introduced, transfers between your own accounts, grants or exempt income. Work from your sales records instead, and check whether each type of supply you make is taxable or exempt.

No.

The historical registration test looks at your VAT-taxable turnover for the previous 12 months from any point in time — not 6 April to 5 April, not January to December, and not your own accounting year. That is why the calculator above asks you to pick the month you are checking and then fills in the 12 months ending with it.

Practically, this means checking your rolling total every month. A business that only reviews turnover at its year end can cross the threshold several months earlier without realising.

If your VAT-taxable turnover for the previous 12 months goes over £90,000, HMRC generally requires you to register for VAT.

There are specific deadlines for telling HMRC and specific rules for your effective date of registration, which depend on when the threshold was first exceeded. Separate rules can also apply where an excess is only temporary.

Because the outcome depends on the timing and nature of your supplies, check your position on GOV.UK or with an appropriately qualified adviser rather than relying on a single 12-month total.