Self-employed / sole trader

VAT for Small Business

Registration, schemes, returns and getting invoices right.

8 lessons About 47 minutes By Laura Michelle Davis ✓ Reviewed by TaxFly Admin Figures for 2026/27
VAT is the tax small businesses find most confusing, largely because the rules are about timing and paperwork rather than arithmetic. This course covers when you must register, whether voluntary registration helps, which scheme to choose, how to file a return, and what a valid VAT invoice needs.

By the end of this course you will be able to

  • Know when registration becomes compulsory
  • Decide whether voluntary registration is worth it
  • Choose between standard, flat rate and cash accounting
  • File a VAT return correctly
  • Issue and check valid VAT invoices

What you will cover

Module 1

Getting registered

When you must, when you might want to, and what changes on day one.

VAT is the tax small businesses find most confusing, and the reason is that it is not really about arithmetic. The rate is simple. What is hard is the timing: knowing exactly when you crossed a line, what you must do within how many days, and what happens to prices you have already quoted.

This module deals with registration, which is where the expensive mistakes happen.

  1. 1.1 When you must register Lesson · 6 min · includes a calculator
  2. 1.2 Should you register voluntarily? Your situation · 6 min · includes a calculator
Module 2

Choosing a scheme

Flat rate, cash accounting and annual accounting.

Once registered you choose how to account for VAT. The schemes do not change what you owe in principle, but they change the arithmetic, the timing and how much work it is. Picking well can be worth more than any expense claim in this course.

  1. 2.1 Standard versus flat rate Workshop · 7 min · includes a calculator
  2. 2.2 Cash accounting and annual accounting Lesson · 5 min · includes a calculator
Module 3

Running it day to day

Returns, invoices, reclaims and imports.

The routine of being VAT registered: filing the return, issuing invoices that are actually valid, knowing what you can and cannot reclaim, and handling goods that cross a border. None of it is difficult, but each has a detail that costs money when missed.

  1. 3.1 Filing a VAT return Workshop · 6 min · includes a calculator
  2. 3.2 What a valid VAT invoice needs Lesson · 5 min · includes a calculator
  3. 3.3 Reclaiming input VAT Lesson · 6 min · includes a calculator
  4. 3.4 Imports, exports and VAT Checkpoint · 6 min · includes a calculator

Finish with the exam

10 questions covering the whole course. Score 80% or more and you get a certificate of completion. You can retake it as many times as you like.

The exam needs a free account, so we can save your result. The lessons themselves never do.

Go to the exam

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