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How VATease helps Charities & Not-For-Profits
Charities face unique VAT challenges. We can support you with:
Clarifying grant & subsidy VAT status
Avoid the trap of assuming all funding is VAT-free. We help determine if a grant is, in fact, a VAT supply.
Non-business & partial exemption calculations
Ensuring you reclaim the right amount of VAT while adhering to HMRC rules.
Maximising charitable VAT reliefs
Including reliefs relevant to building works, fundraising, and other activities.
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Trusted by Charities & Businesses across the UK
Verified reviews from clients who we’ve made VAT ‘easy’ for...
“Max was excellent and quick with his advice. I had some simple questions and he replied via email within 30 minutes and got straight to the point. Will definitely use again as things develop. Thankyou.”
Andrew Scott
“I have used VATease from several times over the last aprox 20 years. They have a deep understanding of complicated VAT rules and have always provided prompt, understandable and workable answers to our enquires.”
Ruby
“Outstanding service with clarity, speed of response, helpfulness and personable. Thank you SO much VATease for help given this week. I'm an advocate and will recommend whenever the opportunity arises.”
Lee Cunningham
"Simone was fantastic to deal with - very helpful, extremely knowledgeable and always quick to deal with any queries. Thank you for your help.”
Alan Taylor
"Vatease were able to take the stress out of the complex problem I found myself with the transfer of VAT number. The advice and action were spot on. If you are having any problems with VAT then give Vatease a shout."
Matthew Dada
"We are delighted with the service we receive from VATease and would have no hesitation in recommending them to others."
Paul Farmer
"Amazing ...responded very quick .i asked for help and it was sorted in less then a day . Thanks guys"
raymondluk
"Simone was extremely helpful, knowledgeable and prompt. Her help has enabled us to save a considerable sum in VAT on a renovation project. Highly recommend."
Alex Hall
"I can't speak highly enough of the advice and service provided by Simone. Everything was explained in a straightforward way and has been invaluable to our organisation. An easy five stars."
Christopher Wilde
"Excellent service and advice. Max responded straight away to my email and was happy to chat through on the phone so I felt he really understood what was needed, he sent the required documentation in record time!"
Nicola McDermott
"I'm a small company but needed some specific VAT advice quickly. VATease responded straightaway and answered all of my questions. Fee was very reasonable. Highly recommended."
Peter Bridges
"I'm impressed with the service I receive from VATease. Max and team are very knowledgeable. I would recommend Vatease to anyone looking for a professional VAT consutants."
Sreekanth Pasupuleti
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Why Charities get VAT advice from us
HMRC’s helplines can be limited and sometimes even risky.
With VATease, you get:
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Expert advice with a practical, common-sense approach.
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Jargon-free explanations you can confidently share internally or with trustees.
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A team who will even talk directly to your partners or advisors on your behalf.
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Over 30 years of dedicated VAT expertise, delivered with professionalism and a smile.
HMRC will request a reference from you and if you are VAT registered, this reference is your VAT Registration number. Your query is then logged against your file.
It has been known for a visiting VAT Inspector to look at the queries asked by a business of the HMRC helpline to try and determine whether there is an area that appears to be causing difficulties.
At the visit, the Inspector may then focus on that area to see if there is an under declaration of VAT because of misunderstanding the rules.
Also, generally, HMRC will only talk to the persons specifically named on their records, so if your name’s not down – you’re not coming in!
HMRC will NOT advise on a hypothetical situation, so you cannot have a general VAT chat about your affairs and what you are planning to do.
If you rely on advice given by HMRC which is later proved wrong, then it is down to you to be able to prove that you gave HMRC the full facts of your query in the first place so that you can rely on the advice they gave you!
HMRC are quick to point out that VAT is a ‘self-assessed tax’ so, unfortunately, it can be difficult to get advice from them.
Of course, there may be some occasions when an approach to HMRC (to the written enquiries) on a VAT issue is the best way forward and we will advise you of these times and guide you accordingly.
However, we do not recommend blindly sending in a written VAT query for a couple of reasons.
We were once asked to act for a charity who wanted to maximise their grant income after they had sent a perfectly innocent letter to HMRC VAT Enquiry centre asking for guidance as to how they should structure their affairs to achieve the best VAT saving.
Next thing, the local Tax Avoidance Officer became involved accusing the charity of illegally trying to avoid paying the VAT due when all the charity wanted was some advice to plan things in the most VAT efficient way. No law against that!
HMRC tend to reject a lot of VAT queries because VAT is a self-assessed tax and they state it is up to you as the taxpayer to make the decision about your VAT liabilities.
Additionally, they will often simply state that they will not answer your VAT query because your question is covered in their public guidance. They then refer you to the relevant Public Notice.
Therefore, in order to get any VAT advice in writing, you must word your enquiry letter carefully so as to pre-empt HMRC’s stock responses.
If you receive some written VAT advice from HMRC, remember you still need to be able to prove you gave full (and correct) facts in order to rely on this VAT advice.
