Conduct a vat check of your supplier before finalizing your transaction

If you’re a vat registered trader in the UK or perhaps some other member EU country that has embraced vat then you need to conduct a vat check of your supplier before finalizing your transaction, especially if you intend to import goods or services to your country. It is actually fairly simple to conduct a vat number check over the internet before you part with your hard-earned money.

VAT or value added tax is really a system of taxing goods and services that is followed in a number of countries around the world including most eu countries. If you’re a trader in the UK that is vat numbers importing services or goods from other eu countries where vat has already been paid in the country of origin then you can apply for a vat refund. This may allow you to reclaim vat paid earlier so as to avoid double-taxation. However, it is necessary that you buy your goods from a vat registered trader or exporter in another country so the chain of vat continues when the services or goods are imported to the UK.

However, there may be a chance that an unregistered vat trader might try to dupe you of your savings by charging you vat even while providing you with a fake or expired vat number on the vat invoice. In such a case, you may not be able to reclaim any vat on that transaction, which inturn will raise your costs and deny you your rightful refund. It is thus vitally important to conduct a vat check that usually takes a short time whenever you get on the official European Commission or EUROPA website that allows you to conduct a vat registration check and validate if your supplier has indeed given you an authentic vat number.

All that you should do is log on to the EUROPA website ec.europa.eu directly or go to the hmrc vat department website and follow the link provided at the site. All you have to do is to choose the eu country of the supplier, enter the vat number of your proposed supplier, choose your own country code, and type in your own vat number. You will now need to click on verify, upon which the verification software will inform you if your vat number is valid.

Whenever possible, you need to print the validation screen as proof of having conducted the check at a particular date and time. If the registration number is not valid then you can tell your supplier since there may be many reasons for such a response, ranging from a genuine mistake in supplying you with the vat number to willful wrongdoing on your supplier?s part. You sould never forget that ultimately it is your business which will suffer if you fail to conduct a vat number check.

Conducting a vat registration number check is very important if you are planning to buy goods or services from vat registered traders in another country that also adheres to the system of vat. The exact checking process hardly takes more than a few seconds and performing a vat check will certainly save your valuable business a lot of money and pain in case the supplied vat number ends up being incorrect.