VSME11100 - Check on registered particulars: check on traders effective date of registration (EDR)

• if you conduct an inquiry before the trader is registered, the EDR should be determined in accordance with the VAT Registration (VATREG) manual;
• if the inquiry follows the effecting of registration, you should check the accuracy of the effective date under the rules for compulsory registrations. You should follow the guidance in the event that backdating is required, or the trader has been incorrectly classified as a repayment trader and the application for registration was late. To reduce the amount of subsequent work, you should establish the correct EDR and the net arrears of tax in accordance with the procedures in the VAT Registration (VATREG) manual. If a repayment is due for the period, an estimate of the amount involved will usually be sufficient;
• (This content has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000)
• unless it is obvious that the trader has “grown” into registration, enquiry should be made into any previous employment/business. For example, it is unlikely that a second-hand car dealer would register without any previous experience or dealings; and
• the trader should be made aware that the period stagger may be aligned, on request, with the accounting year. If the trader’s stagger is clearly disadvantageous to the revenue, we may impose the appropriate stagger or refuse the trader’s request to change.