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Do you quote inclusive of VAT?
I just wondered what other VAT registered traders did when quoting work. I always quote prices as £xyz + VAT and this is never a problem. Today I had an enquirer who became quite rude when I offered him a price + VAT.
I hate it when you guys do that he said – why don’t just include the VAT amount in your quotation instead of leaving it to be worked out?
I explained this was my normal method – has been for years and given that most of my clients are VAT registered businesses this is not usually an issue.
Given that he was clearly offended by this – and believed I was being in some way underhanded, I was left wondering what others do?
Do you write on your quotes the amount + VAT, or the amount inclusive of VAT?
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33 Replies
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we give price £00.00+vat on everything.
we had someone complain only a few months ago… similar type thing… tell them to blow. 😉 :lol1: -
yes it is a bit of a problem, as the vast majority of customers are vat reg. and expect it to be +vat
then you forget to say it and probably have to swallow it on the next retail customer.keep learning, keep forgetting
chris
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always plus VAT
but explain the bill is mine but vat is governments
and some of our products are not vat rated
ian
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Always, price plus VAT.
Never really had any problems 😕 Funny enough a customer today asked for an inclusive price on his van, which was unusual.
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quote Robert Lambie:we give price £00.00+vat on everything.
we had someone complain only a few months ago… similar type thing… tell them to blow. 😉 :lol1:Some people are never happy with a quote. I certainly wouldn’t complain about that price though. £00.00 plus vat or not, still comes to £00.00. 😛
What do I have to blow to get that rate? -
Exactly the same as you Phill. Use to quote a price plus VAT. Can’t say I ever had anyone complain about it though. Had a few who asked if we could just forget about the VAT but none that complained about having to work out how much it was.
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I’ll quote the majority of my stuff £xx.xx+VAT, but occasionally (for Joe Public) tell them the inclusive price…the advantage of that is – and if they come back with "OH, and that’ll be plus VAT then" – you could either gain another 17.5% as they’ve already made the mental decision that it’s not that expensive…or amaze them at your stunning value for money inclusive price!
For years I’d quoted inclusive…then I switched to +VAT. I buy all my materials +VAT – so working out margins for selling it +VAT made life easier.
Like some others – I’ll tell them "If I pay VAT & tax on this…so do you", but the number of people with a ‘haggling background’ that say "I don’t pay VAT for anything – and how much money for cash" and are politely told that it IS the best price I can offer. Almost lost a few jobs over VAT & ‘discounts for cash’. eg.£800+VAT job – he offers £600cash – no VAT, no receipt – you know the type. Hmmm, me thinks not, so start heading for the door. In the end – he got a £50 discount for ‘cash’ up front and £10 worth of vinyl stickers thrown in to clinch the deal. Lesson learnt – don’t back down.
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always quote price then + vat……the vat man told me to do so, dont know if it was true or not but he said if you dont it was against the law 😕
nik
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always £x + vat.
I’ve never had anyone get stroppy, but sometimes they will ask, ‘so how much is that in total then?’ 😀 -
By law, we have to qoute VAT inclusive prices. If not registered, your quote,invoice etc. should CLEARLY state NOT A VAT VENDOR. If registered, your price MUST INCLUDE VAT. That said, almost everybody (me included) quote on price + VAT, it was what everyone used in the GST days, and folk like to see the excluded price, since you can claim back input VAT. By the way, we only pay 15%….
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B2B – price + vat
Retail – price incl vatSounds like your customer was Joe public, what was he inquiring about out of curiosity?
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I always quote £ + vat. Whilst quoting face to face you can always tell who isn’t VAT registered!! But that is the way it has been for all my VAT years.
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always + vat never really had much of a problem doing it this way
Lynn
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Phil, normally + VAT but to joe public I sometimes quote including. I usually find if you quote + VAT to non-businesses you are always asked "will you take cash?" 🙄
Nick.
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quote Neil Speirs:B2B – price + vat
Retail – price incl vatSounds like your customer was Joe public, what was he inquiring about out of curiosity?
He claimed to be running a business offering a teeth whitening service 😕
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If he gives you any more lip Phill, tell him you’re running an eye blackening service.
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:vio: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
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going back to the law though, you dont have to quote + vat, you can still add it on, but if you quote inclusive you must state it is inclusive
Peter
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Plus VAT. Always.
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+GST here.
Non Australian customers are not subject to GST so they are GST free. Is it the same in England?
If so you can tell that client we deal internationally and international clients are not subject to the VAT. Thats why prices are quoted as plus VAT.
🙂
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Always plus VAT. Just tell him that prices are plus VAT for real businesses that can claim it back and when he grows up, he will be able to as well 😀
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always quote plus the dreaded unless they ask if they can pay with dollar 😉
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quote :yes it is a bit of a problem, as the vast majority of customers are vat reg. and expect it to be +vat
then you forget to say it and probably have to swallow it on the next retail customer.keep learning, keep forgetting
Exactly as Chris
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You have to clearly state vat… price+VAT is how we do it.
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quote Phill:quote Neil Speirs:B2B – price + vat
Retail – price incl vatSounds like your customer was Joe public, what was he inquiring about out of curiosity?
He claimed to be running a business offering a teeth whitening service 😕
dentists, insurance firms, doctors etc are not vat reg, and cant by law, thats why he baulked,
I always quote +vat but if i think they are not vat registered, i always slip in the question are you vat reged, if they say they aren’t i do my quote plus 20% and tell them it’s a no invoice job , they think they are winning, when they are gone do a cash sale invoice including vat + i get an extra 2.5% and they think they got a BARGAIN.
A wee saying we have over here is it’s £800 + Tony (or Gordon as it is now), this way they know it’s not for me :lol1:
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Ian, is that true of all Doctors and Dentists and do they have a VAT exemption certificate?
A lot of Dentists and Doctors for that matter are now private sector businesses and I would have thought they would have to register.
I had a visit from the VAT people a few years ago and when they went through all the invoices there were a few where I hadn’t charged VAT because the customer told me they were exempt. I ended up having to pay that VAT out of my own pocket and the inspector said to me that I should always charge VAT unless the customer had a valid indate VAT exemption certificate
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I know this might seem like a stupid question ……..but what exactly is the idea of VAT? I was at the toilet when they did it at school, in fact I spent a lot of time at the toilet when they did business studies!!!!.
I vaguely remember VAT being introduced (I think) so it is only a relatively recent thing. If , in an ideal world the government give it back what is the point?
Slap me if that is too stupid a question! 😀 -
Harry, it’s a tax and another way that the government can make more money.
Yes you can claim some of it back but not all of it, take my business for example. I pay VAT on all the materials I buy to make a sign and I can claim that VAT back if I am VAT registered. So let’s say I claim back £10 on the materials I buy.
I then sell the sign for more money that it cost me and the VAT I charge may be say £20.
The VAT I have to pay the government is the output VAT (vat on what I sold it for) minus the input VAT ( vat I claim back on materials)So I would have to pay the government £10 VAT.
Does that make it a bit clearer or has my explanation just muddied the water :lol1:
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quote martin:So I would have to pay the government £10 VAT.
No you don’t Martin because you’ve added it to your retail price. Your customer has paid it.
All you’ve done is…..
Pay your supplier £10, and claimed it back.
Collected £20 from your customer and passed it to the government.Your postion is tax neutral.
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quote Harry Cleary:I know this might seem like a stupid question ……..but what exactly is the idea of VAT?
Harry,
VAT was a replacement for Purchase Tax.
Purchase Tax was a strange beast, with all sorts of rates for different classes of goods. It was probably a bit simpler for retailers because it was added to their purchase price and charged by them, at the same price, to their customer. Lots of things escaped PT because it wasn’t a product; things like labour charges etc.
The idea of VAT, apart from bringing us into line with practically every other country in Europe, was to standardise rates. They were able to be set at a lower level than PT because lots of things, like the abovementioned labour charges, were now taxable. There was one exception to that, cars, but I won’t bore you with the reasons why.
The idea of both types of tax is to make the consumer pay, and that is exactly what VAT does by allowing everybody else in the supply chain to claim it back. Ultimately only the end user pays.
Lots of people complain about the paperwork but, with the right system in place it isn’t onerous, and just becomes automatic.
Also, don’t forget the benefits. One of which is to collect tax from our customers, use it ourselves, if only to reduce our overdrafts, or to earn interest on, for up to three months before we have to hand it over.
I actually quite like VAT because it only affects spenders. Savers don’t have to pay it, unlike Income Tax.
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Cheers John and Martin……a ‘pass the parcel tax’.
Now why couldn’t my teachers explain it like that?! 😀 -
quote Phill:I just wondered what other VAT registered traders did when quoting work. I always quote prices as £xyz + VAT and this is never a problem. Today I had an enquirer who became quite rude when I offered him a price + VAT.I hate it when you guys do that he said – why don’t just include the VAT amount in your quotation instead of leaving it to be worked out?
I explained this was my normal method – has been for years and given that most of my clients are VAT registered businesses this is not usually an issue.
Given that he was clearly offended by this – and believed I was being in some way underhanded, I was left wondering what others do?
Do you write on your quotes the amount + VAT, or the amount inclusive of VAT?
i know this doesn’t directly apply to me, because i’m not vat registered, but….
i recently re-designed some advertising boards for a customer because all the prices are excluding vat (despite the fact that it has "+ vat" by each price). he was going to show the vehicle as part of his stand at a trading standards approved ‘eastbourne trade show’, he was told he couldn’t unless he changed it, as now, if selling to retail customers, you must show the price including vat.
though for trade / commercial customers, you can continue as before.
that was my take on it anyways!
Hugh
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Good to see you back on the boards Martin.
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