How to register for VAT online

Most businesses register for VAT online through HMRC’s register for VAT service, using HMRC sign in details and giving turnover, bank and identity information. Paper form VAT1 is only for a short list of cases and has to be requested from HMRC. HMRC asks you not to chase your application until 40 working days have passed, and the confirmation with your VAT number comes by post.

When do I have to apply, and from what date am I registered?

You must register if your taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000, or if you expect it to go over £90,000 in the next 30 days alone. The two tests give different deadlines and different registration dates. Get the date right, because you owe VAT on your sales from that date whether or not your number has arrived.

• Backward look: you must apply within 30 days of the end of the month in which the rolling 12 month total went over £90,000. Your effective date of registration is the first day of the second month after you went over.
• Forward look: you must apply by the end of the 30 day period, and your effective date is the date you realised you would go over, not the date the turnover actually arrived.

The way turnover is counted, including zero rated sales, is covered in our guide to the VAT registration threshold. Sole traders with several trades should read one VAT registration for all your sole trader businesses before working out the total. If you are below the threshold and choose to register, see voluntary VAT registration; HMRC may allow a voluntary registration to be backdated by up to 4 years, but will not normally change the date once it has been agreed.

What information does HMRC ask for?

The online service asks different questions depending on the type of business. Gather the following before you start, because missing details are the usual reason applications stall.

Limited company	Individual or partnership
Company registration number	National Insurance number
Business bank account details	An identity document, such as a passport or driving licence
Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR)	Bank account details and UTR, if you have one
Annual turnover and an estimate of taxable turnover for the next 12 months	Annual turnover and an estimate of taxable turnover for the next 12 months
Information about Self Assessment, Corporation Tax and PAYE	Information from your Self Assessment return, payslips and P60

VAT Notice 700/1, paragraph 4.1, explains that the turnover estimate is for the 12 months starting from your registration date, and that the 12 months before registration can be used as a starting point. Partnerships are asked for more information about the partners, and a business taking over another business that wants to keep the previous owner’s VAT number uses form VAT68 alongside the application.

How does the online application work, step by step?

1. Start the register for VAT service on GOV.UK and sign in. If you do not have sign in details, you create them the first time you sign in.
2. Answer the questions about your business, its activities and its turnover. You do not have to finish in one go; you can save the application and come back to it.
3. Complete any extra forms the service asks for. These depend on the type of business, for example partnership details.
4. Decide whether to join a special scheme at the same time. HMRC says a business that is not yet registered should register and join the Flat Rate Scheme together, and can also register for the Annual Accounting Scheme; you are told how when you register. See the VAT Flat Rate Scheme and the VAT Annual Accounting Scheme before ticking either.
5. Submit the application and keep a copy of what you entered, particularly the turnover estimate and the date you gave for going over the threshold.

An accountant or agent can make the application through their agent portal, but Notice 700/1 is clear that you remain responsible for the accuracy of the information given.

When do I have to use paper form VAT1 instead?

HMRC’s guidance lists the cases where you must register by post using VAT1. They include applying for a registration exception because turnover has gone over the threshold only temporarily, joining the Agricultural Flat Rate Scheme, a limited liability partnership registering as the representative member of a VAT group, registering the divisions or business units of a corporate body under separate numbers, local authorities and parish or district councils, and insolvency practitioners registering a business.

You can also ask for a paper form if you cannot use the online service because of age, a health condition, disability or location, a religious objection to using computers, or no internet access. The process is not a download:

• call the VAT general enquiries helpline and ask for form VAT1;
• HMRC asks why you need paper, and sends the form only if it agrees; otherwise it directs you to the digital service;
• you must apply only on a form HMRC has sent you, with any extra forms needed for your case, such as VAT5EXC for an exception, VAT98 for the Agricultural Flat Rate Scheme or VAT50/51 for a group.

HMRC says postal applications usually take longer to process than online ones.

How long does it take to get a VAT number?

HMRC checks the application before issuing a number and will contact you either with the number or to say there will be a delay because it needs more information. Paragraph 4.5 of Notice 700/1 says that if you have not heard after 40 working days you should contact the VAT Registration Service to make sure your application was received, and not to contact HMRC before then, as doing so may delay processing. HMRC’s online tool for checking when you can expect a reply gives current processing times.

Once registered you receive, by post:

• a 9 digit VAT registration number, which must appear on every invoice you raise;
• information about setting up a business tax account, which you need to use the VAT online service;
• details of when your first VAT return and payment are due;
• confirmation of your effective date of registration.

HMRC also signs the business up to Making Tax Digital for VAT unless it is exempt or has applied for exemption. You must sign up for a VAT online account as soon as the number arrives, by signing in, choosing to add a tax, duty or scheme, and selecting VAT and VAT Services.

Can you show how the dates work?

These are the examples HMRC gives in Notice 700/1, paragraph 4.4.

Situation	Apply by	Registration date
Taxable supplies in the previous 12 months went over the threshold on 31 August	30 September	1 October
You expect supplies in the next 30 days alone to go over the threshold, realised on 20 January	18 February	20 January

In the second case the business is liable from 20 January even though it may not receive its number for several weeks. HMRC’s advice is to submit the application as early as possible so the number arrives in good time, and to start keeping VAT records from the date you become liable. How to invoice in the gap is explained in charging VAT while waiting for a VAT number, and VAT on set up costs is covered in reclaiming VAT on costs before registration.

What happens if I apply late?

Notice 700/1, paragraph 4.6, says HMRC will register you from the date you were liable, whenever you tell it, and you must account for VAT from that date even if you did not charge it to customers. You may be able to set input tax against that liability where you hold VAT invoices. A failure to notify on time can lead to a penalty under Schedule 41 to the Finance Act 2008. Applying promptly, even with an imperfect turnover estimate, is far better than waiting for figures to settle.

What mistakes hold up an application?

• Leaving out zero rated or reduced rated sales when working out taxable turnover. GOV.UK confirms both count towards the threshold.
• Giving the wrong date for going over the threshold. The backward and forward tests produce different registration dates, and HMRC will not normally change an agreed date later.
• Chasing too early. HMRC asks applicants to wait 40 working days before contacting the VAT Registration Service.
• Asking for a paper form without a qualifying reason. HMRC will redirect you to the online service, and the postal route is slower anyway.
• Stopping record keeping while you wait. VAT is due from the effective date, so sales and purchase records need to be complete from that day.

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Related Accountapedia entries

• Can I avoid VAT registration after a one off spike
• Registering a new business: which taxes
• The rolling 12 month test for VAT registration
• The 30 day forward look test for VAT
• How to register as self employed
• VAT on online marketplace seller fees

See also: VAT1: applying to register for VAT by post explained.

Sources

• GOV.UK: Print
• GOV.UK: Vat notice 7001 should i be registered for vat
• GOV.UK: Print
• GOV.UK: Vat application for registration vat1

Reviewed by Christine Anderson, Broker, Solar Protect. Last reviewed 19 October 2026. Part of Accountapedia, the Solar Protect guide to UK tax and accounting. This page is general information, not personalised advice.