One of the key questions businesses ask in VAT registration situations is regarding pre‐registration input tax
recovery.
There are separate rules for goods and services. For goods to qualify for input tax recovery they must have been
purchased for the purposes of the business and not supplied onwards or consumed before the date of registration,
and finally the VAT must have been incurred within three years of the date of registration.
For services for qualify, the cost must have been incurred for business purposes and the VAT must have been incurred
within six months of the date of VAT registration.
In both situations the input tax recovery is subject to being supported by an appropriate VAT invoice. Also, the input
VAT would be claimed through the businesses first VAT registration.
