Argh, so our builder, who is due to start work on an extension and loft conversion for us in May has just gone over the VAT threshold for the current tax year, so our quote will now have to include VAT. We actually postponed the project because he didn't want to start it in the same tax year for this reason, so it's pretty frustrating, but just one of those things I guess. However, it's a pretty sizeable hike up in price. We did have contingency, but I would prefer to keep some of this in case something crops up during the build itself.
Anyway, my question is - now he will be VAT registered, my understanding is that he won't pay VAT on materials, is this correct? And if so, is it reasonable for ask him to adjust his quote accordingly - ie. the materials part of the cost should be 20% cheaper? And also, we had a lot of items as client supply, but he was going to use his trade accounts to get them for us (although we were going to pay). Would it also be reasonable for us to ask him to add them to the overall quote so we don't have to pay VAT? It will go a good way towards off-setting the big increase we are looking at, so I'm hoping he goes for it!