How to get a VAT breakdown on the new mobile bill format

[I_AM_THE_VATMAN]

Now that the bill format has been made "simpler" there is no breakdown of the VAT, which is essential for those of us submitting our personal mobile bills as expenses to our employers.

If a company is charging VAT, there must be a way of seeing what VAT is being charged - any shop charging VAT is obliged to give a VAT breakdown if requested. The same should apply here.

Is there a method I am missing?

[XRaySpeX · Accepted solution]

You need to move to a business plan to get VAT receipts.

[I_AM_THE_VATMAN]

Okay, thanks for the clarification. I'll have to take it up the chain of command because I'm not sure this is legal, especially since they used to give the information on the bills up until a couple of months ago.

[ewanrw]

Perfectly legal. Cut and pasted from gov.uk...

“If you sell a customer a product or a service, you need to give them an invoice (bill) by law if both you and the customer are registered for VAT (a business to business transaction). An invoice is not the same as a receipt, which is an acknowledgement of payment.”

https://www.gov.uk/invoicing-and-taking-payment-from-customers

[XRaySpeX]

@ewanrw : That's irrelevant to this thread:

1. It say's nowt about the VAT contents of a bill.
2. EE does give everybody (VAT registered or not) an invoice (bill) anyway.

[ewanrw]

Please re-read the contents of the post and the link.

The only legal requirement to provide a VAT invoice is between businesses. EE don’t provide a breakdown of VAT to us consumers anymore, as they don’t need to, and it’s perfectly legal to do so, or not to, as it were. 

[XRaySpeX]

@ewanrw : I did! You're misreading your own quote. There's nowt in it about providing VAT invoices, just invoices in general.

[ewanrw]

Let’s let the original poster decide what’s relevant to their question as it’s not for you or I to decide.

[XRaySpeX]

@ewanrw : Who's deciding anything? Just commenting as is my right.

[I_AM_THE_VATMAN]

Thanks for doing the extra research, however XRaySpex is right in that it is not relevant to my original post. It doesn't matter what the legal requirement for invoices is, the point is that if VAT is being charged, the customer (any customer) can request a breakdown of the VAT content.

Looking at other requests for VAT information in this forum, there is clearly a need for it without having to register as a business, and it seems arbitrary and petty that EE have decided to remove the information. I can only imagine it was a kneejerk reaction to a customer poll that wanted simpler bills (or less paper used). I certainly hope it's not a cynical attempt to push more people onto business accounts with higher tariffs.

This is a reduction in service though, with no consultancy or warning, and I would not have signed up with EE in the first place if they didn't have VAT information on the bill.

Like I said, I'm taking it up with the higher-ups, and if they can't furnish me with the information, I'll switch providers to someone who can.