Under UK VAT law, a sole trader's rolling 12-month taxable turnover first exceeds £90,000 on 15 July 2026. By when must the business notify HMRC and register for VAT, and from when does registration take effect?
- Within 30 days of the end of July 2026, i.e. by 30 August 2026, with registration effective from 1 September 2026
- Within 30 days of 15 July 2026 itself, i.e. by 14 August 2026, with registration effective immediately from that date
- By the end of the current VAT accounting quarter, since VAT registration deadlines follow quarterly reporting cycles
- Only if the £90,000 threshold is also exceeded in the following tax year, since HMRC applies an annual look-back rather than a rolling test
Why A? And why not the others?
Correct answer: A. Within 30 days of the end of July 2026, i.e. by 30 August 2026, with registration effective from 1 September 2026
HMRC requires a business to register for VAT within 30 days of the end of the month in which its rolling 12-month taxable turnover first exceeded £90,000, so a threshold breach identified as occurring during July 2026 gives a deadline of 30 August 2026; the effective date of registration is then the first day of the second month after the threshold was exceeded, which is 1 September 2026. The option counting 30 days from the exact date turnover crossed the threshold rather than from the end of that month misstates how the clock starts running under HMRC's rules. The option describing a quarter-end deadline invents a link between registration timing and VAT return periods that does not exist; registration deadlines are set independently of a business's own accounting quarters. The option claiming an annual look-back is also wrong: the £90,000 test is a continuously rolling 12-month calculation reassessed on an ongoing basis, not a fixed calendar-year or tax-year comparison, which is precisely why businesses must monitor turnover throughout the year rather than only at year-end.
Source: GOV.UK: Register for VAT — When to register for VAT