Paying VAT on items when non-VAT registered....

[deepdarkwood]

Apologies for numpty question - not something I've had to deal with before and all obvious sites are proving impenetrable.

I'm usually well under the VAT threshold, so not VAT registered - I have minimal overheads, many of which are VAT free, so don't normally have to think about it. But a colleague who has done some work for me on a project is VAT registered, so is (of course) charging me VAT.

Do I just have to pay it (I can't easily pass it onto the client, as I quoted a job price) ...or is there something clever I can do here...??

There is nothing you can do to claim this as a 'one off'. If your customers are businesses that can reclaim VAT (so not banks, charities, private schools etc.) or public sector organisations you should probably register for VAT anyway. If your overheads are low, the appriate flat rate scheme may work well for you.