Can I reclaim vat on supermarket receipt

[Katieweasel]

I have a supermarket receipt for £140. It quotes a vat registration number but there is no specific vat breakdown. Items are marked with a V which their website states means they are vatable. Is this sufficient to reclaim vat.

If you are vat registered, yes you can recover vat but only for allowable expenses.

Yes I’m vat registered. I thought this was ok but then I was advised by admittedly a non vat expert that there had to be a vat breakdown. Am I correct that if the V weren’t on the receipt indicating what items were vatable that I wouldn’t be able to claim

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/record-keeping-for-vat-notice-70021#vat-invoices

4.4 on this page tells you what a retail VAT invoice should show.

It also has to be something for your business. Eg T bags for the business but not for personal use.

Yes it’s for business use

The link would imply not. So still confused

VAT accountant here - you can recover the input tax on supermarket supplies, assuming they are taxable. The supermarkets use an alpha coding system -
google it per the supermarket to find out as the systems all differ it seems! If it’s taxable then you can happily recover the input tax.

put a screen shot of the receipt up if you want, I’ll take a look.

Food is zero rated.

Doesn’t it depend on the food? Hence all the arguments about if Jaffa cakes are actually a biscuit?

Hello lovely vat accoutant! Is there a value limit? I read that it is £250 as it classes as a simplified invoice. Is this correct? I also have a receipt which doesn’t indicate which items are vatable or not. So no breakdown, lettering or asterisks. Can I claim on these receipts if I know the items would be vatable

That’s right, also food covered in chocolate can fall into the ‘luxury’ category and will be standard rated.

No I don’t believe so, you can purchase all sorts from a supermarket these days, from the larger stores - say you bought a tv or a laptop, input tax on large ticket items is still fully recoverable 👍🏻

So to confirm as long as the receipt quotes a vat number I can reclaim vat on any item I know to be vatable

When I am in tescos and need a vat receipt I have to go to customer service and ask them to print a copy with the vat breakdown

Yes

Did your purchase include Jaffa Cakes? ;)

Officially you ought to take the receipt to customer services and they’ll give you an itemised VAT receipt!

Look af 16.6.1 on simplified VAT invoices.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-guide-notice-700#section16

Yes. Sort of. It depends. The item has to be allowable as an expense to the business, and what is allowable expenses in one business is not in another. So stick to recovering the vat on office supplies, cleaning materials, toilet rolls, light bulbs & batteries and so on, which you might often buy from a supermarket anyway, and don't recover any VAT on anything edible. Unless, that is, your business is chiefly in the buying and selling of food items, in which case, consult your accountant to confirm what they are happy for you to recover.

Unofficially, the VAT inspectors are happy with just the receipt, because they know the retailer would be obliged to provide a full VAT receipt if required, and would have to do so if HMRC demanded it.

Even more unofficially - unless they think you are engaged in major fraud, they won't ever go to the bother of checking.

Absolutely this 👍🏻👍🏻

Take the till receipt to customer services and they will print out a full VAT receipt. I used to do this for my business and was accepted by HMRC.

Over more decades than I care to remember, I have been putting retail receipts through as expenses and recovering VAT on the items I know are allowable (thousands of the damn things over the years) and there has never once been an issue in any of the places I have worked. One of those places was an accountancy practice. HMRC has never shown the slightest interest in rifling through acres of till receipts, even when we've had a full VAT inspection.

The only time I have ever known them show an interest was with fuel receipts (which show the VAT anyway) for company cars if any of the mileage was for personal use.

Does it not have the total VAT amount at the bottom? Pretty sure most supermarkets do - it says total excl vat, vat, and total. If it does then that is the AT breakdown and is sufficient to reclaim VAT.

Ah, sorry, maybe I’m thinking supermarket fuel receipts