Registering for VAT: requered information

While registering for VAT the following information to be provided about the business:

o Is the business a sole trader or corporate body (limited company)

o Date of incorporation

o Trading name

o Business address

o Briefly describe your current and/or intended business activities in your own word

o Business activities of the company

o Details of your bank account

o Do you expect the VAT on your purchases to regularly exceed the VAT on your taxable supplies?

o Please state your reason for applying for registration:

Ø I am established, or have a fixed establishment, in the UK and make, or intend to make, supplies only outside the UK, for which I am entitled to be VAT registered.

Ø I have taken over, or I am intending to take over, a business that is VAT registered, or that should be VAT registered, as a Transfer Of a Going Concern.

Ø I am changing the legal entity that owns a VAT registered business (eg from sole proprietor to a limited company).

Ø I am making taxable supplies.

Ø I intend to make taxable supplies.

o Do you expect your taxable turnover in the next 30 days alone to exceed the registration threshold or has such an expectation ever arisen at any time in the past?

o What was the first date an expectation arose?

o Do you wish to be registered from a date earlier than the date on which you are obliged to be registered?

o Enter an estimate of the value of your taxable supplies in the next 12 months

o Do you expect to make any exempt supplies?

o Do you expect to buy/sell goods from other EU member states in the next 12 months?

o Do you want exemption from registration because your taxable supplies are wholly or mainly zero-rated?

o Applicant's personal details

o Directors’ address, date of birth, National Insurance number or UTR

source: hmrc.gov.uk

Employment agencies and employment businesses: the basics

An 'employment business' employs or engages a work-seeker who then works under the supervision of another person. This is known as 'temporary agency work' or 'temping'. The workers under these arrangements are usually paid by the employment business rather than by the hirer (business) they are supplied to.

If your business engages in both activities then it is both an employment agency and an employment business.

The term employment agency is commonly used interchangeably for employment agency and employment business but the correct usage of the terminology is set out as above.

General principles to running an employment agency or an employment business

Work-seekers working through an employment agency or employment business may be employees or workers as defined in employment legislation. If so they will be entitled to employment rights such as to be paid at least the national minimum wage and rights to paid leave and rest breaks.

There are protections in place and set out in the employment agency legislation to ensure that work-seekers are treated fairly.

The obligations, in general terms, are that you must make sure that you follow the law when:

• keeping records about the work-seekers and hiring companies
• charging any fees to work-seekers or hirers
• issuing terms and conditions to work-seekers and hiring companies
• advertising jobs and placing workers with hiring companies

As an employment agency or employment business you cannot:

• charge a fee to a work-seeker for work finding services (different rules apply if you are running an employment agency or business to find work in the entertainment or modelling sections)
• stop a work-seeker from working elsewhere, from terminating their contract with you, or require them to tell you the identity of any future employer
• (employment businesses only) withhold payments or wages due to work-seekers for work they have carried out
• (employment businesses only) supply a temporary work-seeker to replace an individual taking part in industrial action

Setting up an employment agency or employment business

There is no legal requirement to form a limited company in order to trade as an employment agency or employment business.

There are several different options to choose from when starting a business, such as sole trader, partnership and limited liability company. Your choice will depend on your personal circumstances.

Running the business from home

There is no reason why your business should not be run from your home providing that you comply with the relevant rules and regulations. In some instances working from home can affect your mortgage, your home insurance and council tax, among other things. There are also health and safety issues to be aware of.

Licences for employment agencies

The majority of employment agencies do not need a licence, but there are some areas of work where a licence is or may be required.

Agencies covered by Gangmaster licensing rules

If you are providing labour for one of the following sectors you will need to be licensed by the Gangmaster Licensing Authority (GLA):

• agriculture
• horticulture
• shellfish gathering
• forestry
• food processing and packaging

The GLA regulates the supply of labour into these sectors.

Nursing agencies and domiciliary care agencies

If you are setting up or running a nursing agency or domiciliary care agency, you may need to be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) which regulates care services. This covers nursing agencies if you supply registered nurses to work for other providers or nurses or carers supplied to work directly in people's own homes.

Criminal records checks for agency workers

The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) is an Executive Agency of the Home Office set up to help organisations make safer recruitment decisions.

As an employment agency or employment business there may be some industries you provide workers for that require criminal record checks. This is likely to include workers with duties involving close contact with children or other vulnerable groups, such as elderly people or those with learning disabilities.