Pay Expenses Then Claim Back VAT

Hi all,

New user alert!

I have recently started a new business and, prior to having my business account up and running, I purchased a laptop purely for business use.

Having looked around in here, I have figured out how to set myself up as a ‘supplier’ to pay back the expense, however, have a question on what to do after that.

Obviously, when paying myself expenses, the VAT rate is 0, so how do I then log the receipt in order to claim the VAT back when I do my return?

TIA,
Dan

Sounds like you’re doing it backwards.

Tag the receipt to the supplier, with the correct VAT rate, as you would any other purchase. Mark it as paid from the Proprietor Drawings or Directors Loan account.

Thanks Lurch.

I then just transfer the money out of the DLA into my personal account if I want the money out?

Not sure what you mean by that?

If you want the business to pay you back for the purchase you would take the money out of the business account (e.g. bank transfer to your personal account) and tag that transaction as a transfer to the DLA.

The personal account side of the transaction wouldn’t appear on Quickfile.

Perfect, thanks.

I didn’t word my question well, but you answered it anyway. Thanks for your help.

1 Like

Think you’ve jumped the gun abit here. If you bought the laptop prior to incorporating the business, then it isn’t a business expense, since the business didn’t exist at the time of purchase.

What you have is a laptop bought personally being used for the business.

Whether or not you can personally sell the laptop over to the business now is another matter but what you can’t do is reimburse yourself the cost of purchasing it.

Sorry to be the barer of bad news.

BTW this applies to Ltd companies.

The above implies that the business wasn’t incorporated prior to purchase. If it was simply just the fact the business account hadn’t been set up but the business was, then ignore the above.

Thanks Paul.

Yes, the business was incorporated but the bank account wasn’t set up. I needed the laptop and happened to be near a suitable shop, so went in and bought one from my personal account.

In that case that’s fine, follow Lurch’s advice.

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