Q I own a commercial vehicle repair NC garage with a
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turnover in excess of £5000, therefore I am eligible to pay VAT.
What would stop me from using my wife's name on some invoices, with a total turnover of less than .f.5000 a year, and not charging VAT on these accounts?
I would obviously keep separate records and my wife would pay income tax in the normal manner.
A It would appear from your query
that you are under some misapprehension about VAT. Though you must pay it and with a turnover of over £5000 a year must register for VAT, you are also in a position to claim back the VAT you pay on your purchases, Exemption such as you seek is really no advantage because you would be unable to claim back the VAT you pay on purchases and would be compelled to pass the extra cost of spare parts, etc, on to your customer. He would not be able to claim this back in his turn, however, because you will not be able to issue a tax invoice with a VAT number, against which he can claim.
It is likely that taxable companies would not be inclined to use your business because they would be paying VAT which they could not reclaim.
In any case, it seems a little late to be seeking ways of avoiding the implications of VAT. With turnover in excess of £5000 a year, you should already have registered. If you have not, then it seems that you should do so immediately. If you have registered, then any deliberate reduction in your annual turnover would involve applying for deregistration and the Customs and Excise would undoubtedly want to know the reason.
The arrangement which you have outlined is so obviously designed to avoid operating the tax that it is inevitable that the Customs officials Would have some objection. They might insist on your invoicing your wife for the work done so that she can invoice the customer in turn, for instance.
There is nothing to prevent your wife setting up her own vehicle repair business and taking over your customers, however, but it is felt that you would be wiser to comply with the VAT regulations for the reasons already stated.