Are you allowed to charge VAT on VAT???

[stoppinattwo]

my builder and I had an arrangement where by I paid for materials on production of VAT receipts and paid his labour on a day rate. He is not slpaaing VAT on the total price...for example if labour + material(incl VAT) comes to £100 he now wants £117.50

Now I know that he can charge VAT on labour (I think!!) but I cant believe I can be charged VAT on materials twice, or can I, VAT isnt my strong point

Oh and BTW he isnt VAT registered

if he isnt vat registered he cant charge vat

but he will pay vat on materials so you will pay what he paid fopr materials

he cant add vat to his labour cos that would be fraud as he has no means to pay it to customs and excise

If he isn't VAT registered, he cannot charge VAT. Simple.

thankyou, that is what i thought 17.5% was a lot...we were talking about 1000's rather than 100's so i was sweating a tad

ditto - if he isn't VAT registered he can't charge VAT.
If he was VAT registered, he could charge what he wanted for the materials and then would have to charge VAT on top - so could do as in you OP, although he is then in breach of your agreement (contract).

He's having a laugh. Tell him you'll need his VAT registration number if he wants to charge you vat (and if he provides one you would obv. need to check it was genuine).

He is acting illegally, possibly he thought since you asked for "VAT receipts" you are going to claim the VAT back. And that you were demanding he provide you with a VAT receipt for his work too....

In any case it shows a total lack of understanding how VAT system works. If he is charging you VAT he has to pay that vat to customs & excise.

his bill shouldnt mention vat at all just materials and labour

it is completely illegal to present a bill with vat on his labour

If you do need to check a VAT number use this site.
Although iirc it doesn't give you their details, just confirms that there is such a number.

Oh thankyou all for your information, it really is very helpful. Our understanding was that I paid on receipt of receipts and a day rate for labour, fairest way for him really as the job kept changing and I thought a fixed price would be confusing and probably end up in dispute.....but blimey he has made it tough for himself