The UK VAT registration threshold: when you must register

You must register for VAT once your taxable turnover goes over £90,000. The catch is that it's measured over any rolling 12 months, not your tax year.

Updated 28 September 2026 · Threshold £90,000 since 1 April 2024; deregistration £88,000

Test 1: the last 12 months

At the end of every month, add up your taxable turnover for the previous 12 months. If it's over £90,000, you must tell HMRC within 30 days of the end of that month. You're registered from the first day of the second month after you went over.

Example: your rolling total passes £90,000 at the end of May. Register by 30 June, and you charge VAT from 1 July.

Test 2: the next 30 days

If you expect your turnover in the next 30 days alone to be over £90,000, for example because of one big contract, you must register by the end of that 30-day period, and you're registered from the day you realised.

What counts as taxable turnover

Counts: everything you sell that isn't exempt from VAT, including zero-rated sales.
Doesn't count: VAT-exempt sales (for example most insurance, some education and health services), things outside the scope of UK VAT, and the sale of your business equipment.

It's turnover, not profit. A business with £95,000 of sales and £60,000 of costs is over the threshold.

What happens if you're late

You owe HMRC the VAT you should have charged from the date you should have been registered, even if you didn't charge your customers, plus a possible late registration penalty. That can wipe out a year's profit, which is why tracking the rolling total matters.

Registering voluntarily

You can register below the threshold. It can make sense if your customers are VAT-registered businesses (they reclaim the VAT) or you have big VAT-able costs. It's usually a bad deal if you sell to the public, since you either raise prices by 20% or absorb it.

If turnover falls

You can ask to deregister if you expect taxable turnover in the next 12 months to be under £88,000.

General information, not tax advice. See HMRC's VAT registration guidance on GOV.UK.