VATREC10010 - Invoices bearing superseded VAT numbers: Background

It is quite common for the VAT register to be corrected and it may become necessary to amend a trader’s VAT registration number or cancel any incorrectly obtained VAT registration. This can happen where, for example:

• there has been a change in the legal ownership of the business (for example, a sole proprietor has taken on one or more partners to run a business);
• a sole proprietor or partnership has incorrectly obtained more than one VAT registration;
• traders take over a business, do not notify their liability to be registered, and carry on using the VAT registration number of the previous owner;
• a separately registered corporate body is allowed group treatment and, in consequence, loses its own VAT registration number, or
• a corporate body leaves a VAT group.

This list is not exhaustive.