Barristers and advocates (VAT Notice 700/44)
Find out about the VAT rules that apply to VAT-registered barristers or advocates.
1. Overview
1.1 Information in this notice
This notice explains the rules which apply to VAT-registered barristers or advocates. It provides information about:
- when you should normally account for VAT on your professional fees
- how to account for VAT on outstanding fees if you cease to practise
- how to cancel your registration
- what to do if you cease to practise but continue to make other taxable supplies
- what to do if you are partly exempt for VAT purposes
You need to have a working knowledge of basic VAT principles, as outlined in VAT guide (VAT Notice 700).
2. Tax point rules for practising barristers and advocates
2.1 Special tax point rules
There are special tax point rules for supplies made by barristers and advocates. These are provided for in regulation 92 of the Value Added Tax Regulations 1995 (SI 1995/2518). The rules were established as the result of discussions with the Bar Council and the Faculty of Advocates.
2.2 Definition of the ‘tax point’
A tax point is the time at which the law treats a supply of goods or services as having taken place. VAT-registered businesses must normally account for VAT in the tax period in which the tax point occurs and at the rate of VAT that’s in force during that period.
2.3 Tax point rules for barristers and advocates
If you’re a barrister or an advocate, the tax point for the supply of your professional services is the earliest of the date you:
- receive the fee for those services
- issue a VAT invoice for them
- cease to practise as a barrister or advocate
This means that VAT becomes due on all your outstanding fees on the day you cease to practise. Section 5 of this notice explains what to do if you would like HMRC’s permission to defer payment of the VAT due on those outstanding fees.
3. Ceasing to practise and cancelling your VAT registration
3.1 What to do if you cease to practise
If you cease to practise and stop making taxable supplies of any kind, you must cancel your VAT registration.
You must let us know about your intention to cancel your VAT registration within 30 days of ceasing to practise. You can cancel your VAT registration online or you can fill in a form VAT7 and send it to the BT VAT, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1WR.
If you carry on making taxable supplies, but can satisfy HMRC that your taxable turnover in the next 12 months will remain below the VAT registration cancellation limit, you can ask for voluntary VAT registration cancellation.
You can find more information about cancelling your registration in VAT Notice 700/11: cancelling your registration.
3.2 When to account for VAT on your outstanding fees
You must normally account for VAT on all your outstanding fees at the time you cease to practise. However, with HMRC’s permission, you may defer paying the VAT on any outstanding fees until the earlier of the date you:
- actually receive the fees
- issue a VAT invoice
If you’d like to defer payment, follow the procedure explained in section 5 of this guide.
When you do pay HMRC the VAT, you must calculate it at the rate which was in force when you ceased to practise rather than at the rate which is in force when you send the payment.
3.3 Final VAT Return
When you’ve applied to cancel your registration, you’ll receive a final VAT Return. You must declare on it both of the following:
- all the professional fees you received between the end of your last full tax period and the date your registration was cancelled
- any other supplies you’ve made during that time
Even if HMRC has approved your request to defer paying VAT on your outstanding fees (read section 5), you must account for the VAT on any fees which you have:
- already received
- shown on a VAT invoice
- shown on your final return
3.4 Issuing VAT invoices after you have cancelled your VAT registration
To continue to issue VAT invoices after you cancel your VAT registration, you must:
- have supplied the services to which the fees relate before the date on which your registration was cancelled
- show the date you ceased to practise as the tax point
- charge the VAT rate which was in force when you ceased to practise even if the rate has changed in the interim
4. Remaining registered after you cease to practise
4.1 Reasons you many need to remain registered
You will have to remain registered for VAT if you’ve ceased to practise as a barrister or advocate but:
- you’re still making taxable supplies of a different nature
- the turnover from those supplies is above the VAT registration cancellation limit
You must carry on accounting for VAT on these supplies in the normal way. They’re not eligible for the special tax point rules which apply to professional fees. You can find more information about standard tax points in VAT guide (VAT Notice 700).
4.2 VAT Return for the period in which you cease to practise
The VAT Return for the period during which you ceased to practise must include:
- the fees you received
- the fees you invoiced
- any other supplies you made that period
If HMRC has approved your request to defer payment of VAT on your outstanding professional fees, you can omit them from the return.
Paragraph 5.2 tells you how to account for the VAT on the outstanding fees.
5. Deferring payment of VAT on outstanding fees
5.1 Defer payment of VAT
You must have HMRC agreement to defer payment. When you cease practising as a barrister or advocate, you can either:
- write to the GABS Team asking for permission to defer payment on outstanding fees — they will send you a VAT811 form for you to complete and send back to them
- print and complete the and send to the GABS Team for them to process.
On the VAT811 form you must list:
- every standard-rated fee which is outstanding
- the name of the relevant case
- the professional client
- the date of the first fee note
Continue on a separate sheet of paper if there is not enough space on the form for all your cases.
If you do not know exactly how much a particular fee is going to be when you are filling the form in, estimate the amount due.
Provide an address for correspondence.
Send the completed form VAT811 to:
HM Revenue and Customs
GABS Team
DMB 612
West Yorkshire
BX9 1XD
HMRC will return a certified copy to you when we approve your request for deferment.
5.2 Pay the VAT on outstanding fees
HMRC will send you a form VAT812 every quarter. Use the form to declare and pay the VAT due on any fees:
- you have received
- in respect of which you have issued a VAT invoice
- for the period specified on the form
Use the form to let us know the name of the relevant case. Provide enough detail for us to be able to identify each fee from the information on the form VAT811.
If you’ve received any fees for services which you expected to be zero-rated when you completed form VAT811, but which turn out to have been standard-rated, you must declare these on form VAT812 as well.
You must complete and return form VAT812 even if you’ve nothing to declare for that period. Failure to do so may result in your deferment being cancelled and any outstanding tax becoming due.
After the first year, HMRC will give you the option of completing a form VAT812 every 6 months rather than quarterly.
We are reducing paper contact and asking you to pay for VAT on your professional fees electronically. If you normally send a cheque payment, you can pay online using one of the alternative payment options available.
If you need a return, contact Government Accounting and Barristers Team by phone on 03000 556 500 and we’ll issue one by email. You should complete and return it to:
HM Revenue and Customs
Government Accounting and Barristers
DMB 612
BX9 1XD
5.3 What happens after you’ve paid all your outstanding VAT
When you’ve received all your outstanding fees, and paid HMRC all the VAT due, complete the ‘declaration of final payment’ on the form VAT812. If there were any items you listed on form VAT811 that you have not paid VAT for (for example, because you could not collect the fee), tell us why you have not accounted for VAT on them when you declare your final payment.
5.4 Records you must keep
You must keep the records of your outstanding fees for 1 year after you’ve made the declaration of final payment so that we can inspect them if we need to.
6. Special circumstances
6.1 If you’re partly exempt for VAT purposes
If you incur input tax which relates to exempt supplies, you’re regarded as being partly exempt and you will probably not be able to claim all your input tax. You can find out more about this in Partial exemption (VAT Notice 706).
You may need, in due course, to make an adjustment to the input tax you’ve reclaimed if you have:
- made exempt supplies since the beginning of the 12-month period in which you ceased to practise as a barrister or advocate
- asked to defer the VAT on your outstanding fees
Contact VAT: general enquiries if you need any advice about how to make this adjustment.
6.2 If a practising barrister or advocate dies
If you’re the clerk of a practising barrister or advocate who dies, contact the VAT helpline as soon as possible.
If you’re the personal representative (or the agent of the personal representative) of a practising barrister or advocate who dies, tell HMRC, within 10 days of the grant of Probate or Order for Administration, if you wish either to:
- pay VAT on the barrister’s or advocate’s outstanding professional fees straight away
- defer payment
If you choose to defer payment, you must follow the procedure explained at section 5.
Send all correspondence to the address in paragraph 5.1.
HMRC will need a contact address for you and will ask you to sign:
- an application form for deferment of VAT, adapted for use by someone representing a barrister or advocate
- accounts, at regular intervals, of professional fees received
6.3 How to manage VAT on common expenses in shared chambers
In shared chambers, the costs of common expenses (for example, premises, office equipment, office services) are often apportioned on an agreed basis. Each invoice for the supply of common goods or services is made out to the head of chambers, or to a nominated member. It is also acceptable for the invoice to be made out to the barristers’ or advocates’ clerk as long as the clerk is not registered for VAT.
Each member of the chambers then makes the appropriate payment for their share of the expenses.
Three special methods of accounting for VAT have been agreed for use in these circumstances. The choice is up to the barristers or advocates, but each method has certain conditions.
Method 1
The nominated member, to whom the invoice has been addressed, treats the full amount of VAT as input tax. They account for output tax for on the shares charged to all the other members of chambers.
Members of the chambers who are VAT-registered are entitled to claim back the VAT charged to them as their input tax.
As a concession, the nominated member need not issue tax invoices for these supplies. However, there must be a system which allows for each member’s record to be cross-referenced to:
- output tax charged by the nominated member
- the input tax deducted by other members
- the original tax invoice
This will help to make sure that no more than the total VAT stated on the original invoice is claimed back.
The records of all members of chambers must be available during a visit to any one of them.
Method 2
The nominated member, to whom the invoice has been addressed, does not charge output tax to the other members of chambers. Instead, the input tax is apportioned so that VAT-registered members can claim it back on the basis of their own contributions.
Records must be kept of the apportionment of input tax between the members. Each member’s records should cross-reference the input tax claimed back to the tax invoice.
The records of all members of chambers must be available during a visit to any one of them.
Method 3
The nominated member, to whom the invoice has been addressed, deducts the whole amount of input tax and pays an equal amount of money into the common fund. This method may only be used when all members of chambers are registered for VAT.
6.4 Shared expenses and the Flat Rate Scheme
Barristers or advocates who use the Flat Rate Scheme are not normally entitled to claim input tax. Instead, they calculate and pay a flat rate percentage of their total taxable turnover.
Special accounting rules apply to barristers or advocates:
- who are on the Flat Rate Scheme
- whose chambers use method 3 (read paragraph 6.3)
These are explained in VAT Notice 733: Flat Rate Scheme for small businesses.
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Last updated 17 July 2023 + show all updates
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The VAT811 form has been replaced as the legislation quoted on form has been updated.
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The addresses for the GABS Team and Government Accounting and Barristers Team have been updated.
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This page has been updated at Section 5.1 to include a downloadable copy of the VAT811 form.
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Temporary changes put in place due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) have been updated.
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The address to send form VAT7 has been updated.
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Information has been added about paying electronically during coronavirus (COVID-19).
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Information has been updated about how to send any forms, returns or correspondence to HMRC due to coronavirus (COVID-19).
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Temporary changes due to coronavirus (COVID-19) means you must now send any forms, returns or correspondence by email to HMRC.
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First published.