Step 1 · Regime
Which one the project falls under.
What we do, in detail
Four things, with the rate settled before the first invoice.
Program 01 · Where the rate matters
Demolition and reconstruction
On a project of this kind the VAT rate is usually the single largest variable a client controls, and it is decided by paperwork rather than by building. Six per cent instead of twenty-one is fifteen points of the whole contract, and it depends on conditions about the dwelling and on a declaration lodged before the tax becomes chargeable. Lodged late, the rate is gone for everything already invoiced. So this is the first conversation rather than a detail for later.
Step 2 · Conditions
Surface, domicile, sole dwelling.
Step 3 · Declare
Lodged before any VAT falls due.
Step 4 · Build
Invoiced at the rate that applies.
Step 1 · Drawings
Read closely, questions asked early.
Step 2 · Programme
Honest, with dependencies named.
Step 3 · Build
Changes recorded as they arise.
Step 4 · Handover
Snags listed rather than left.
Program 02 · Code 41.001
Residential construction
For works needing a permit the architect's involvement is required by law and the architect supervises the execution, which is exactly why that role cannot sit with the builder. We say so before being asked for an all-in package nobody may lawfully supply. Our part is to build what has been designed, raise early what the drawings did not anticipate, and record the answers before carrying on rather than at the end.
Program 03 · Code 68.122
Project development
The useful work in development happens before anything is bought, and it usually consists of establishing what a site will not support. Permitted use, access, services capacity and the time a permit will realistically take decide whether a project exists at all, and they are cheap to check against a plan and expensive to discover afterwards. A conclusion that a site does not work is a successful piece of development work.
Step 1 · Site
What the location actually permits.
Step 2 · Programme
Realistic timings, including the permit.
Step 3 · Numbers
Including the case for stopping.
Step 4 · Proceed
Or recommend against it, in writing.
Step 1 · Facts
The dwelling, the surface, the use.
Step 2 · Regimes
Which could apply, and which cannot.
Step 3 · Adviser
Questions written out for them.
Step 4 · Lodged
Declaration held before invoicing.
Program 04 · Not tax advice
Getting the position settled
Two reduced-rate regimes are regularly confused: demolition and reconstruction, and renovation of a dwelling at least ten years old. They have different conditions and an answer under one proves nothing about the other. What happens here is factual rather than advisory: we set out which regime a project would engage, what the conditions require, and what has to be lodged and when. The answer itself comes from your own tax adviser, and we do not invoice at the reduced rate without the declaration.
A rebuild in mind, or a site you are unsure about?
A free first conversation, with no obligation. On a rebuild we will set out the VAT position before anything else.