Divisional registration

The following Value Added Tax guidance note by Tolley provides comprehensive and up to date tax information covering:

This guidance note provides an overview of the rules relating to divisional VAT registrations.

What is a divisional VAT registration?

Only a body corporate can have a divisional VAT registration.

VATA 1994, s 46(1); VGROUPS09000; Notice 700/2 De Voil Indirect Tax Service V2.190A (subscription sensitive)

Body corporate

A body corporate includes the following types of entities:

•public limited company - that are limited by shares or guarantee with share capital
•private companies - that are limited by shares, guarantee with share capital or a guarantee
•unlimited companies
•incorporated by an Act of Parliament for a named body
•incorporated by an Act of Parliament for an entire class of body (eg Building Society Act 1986)
•formed by Royal Charter (eg the BBC)
•body corporate that has been formed in another jurisdiction

What is a division?

A entity will be treated as trading in divisions if the following are satisfied:

•there are two or more departments, sites or branches which operate their own accounting units within the UK, and
•the departments, sites or branches either trade in different geographical areas or carry out different functions and have separate accounting systems in operation

Conditions

HMRC will only approve a request to create a divisional registration in the following circumstances:

De Voil Indirect Tax Service V7.172 (subscription sensitive); VGROUPS09100