VAT registration threshold checker
The United Kingdom VAT registration threshold is ninety thousand pounds. This works out whether you have crossed it, by when you must register, and the date registration would take effect.
Your details
Both tests are covered. Fill in whichever applies.
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Figures checked
How the calculation works
There are two separate tests, and you must apply both. They have different deadlines and they produce different start dates, which is why people who look only at the first one register late.
The backward test. At the end of every month, add up taxable turnover for the last twelve months. If it has gone over £90,000 you must register within thirty days of the end of that month, and registration takes effect from the first day of the second month after you went over.
The forward test. If you expect taxable turnover to pass £90,000 in the next thirty days on its own, you must register by the end of that thirty-day period, and registration takes effect from the date you realised, not from the date turnover actually passed the threshold.
Taxable turnover means everything you sell that is not exempt from VAT, before any costs are taken off. It is not profit, and it is not limited to sales on which you charge VAT: zero-rated sales count towards the threshold as well. The twelve months is a rolling period, not your accounting year and not the tax year.
2026/27 thresholds
| 2026/27 | |
|---|---|
| Registration threshold | £90,000 |
| Flat Rate Scheme entry threshold, excluding VAT | £150,000 |
| Standard rate of VAT | 20% |
Worked examples
The backward test. A joiner's rolling twelve-month turnover passes £90,000 during August. The month ends on 31st August, so the deadline to register is 30th September, and VAT registration takes effect from 1st October. Sales made in August and September are outside the registration. The gap is deliberate and it is the part most people misread.
The forward test. A consultant turning over £40,000 a year signs a single £95,000 contract on 3rd March, to be delivered within the month. The forward test is met on 3rd March, registration must be applied for by 2nd April, and registration takes effect from 3rd March, the date of realisation. The backward test is nowhere near being met, and relying on it alone would be an expensive mistake, because VAT would be due on that contract out of the agreed price.
Neither test met. A shop with rolling twelve-month turnover of £71,000 and no unusual month ahead of it need not register, though it may choose to register voluntarily.
Important rules and exceptions
Voluntary registration can pay. If you sell mainly to other VAT-registered businesses, they reclaim whatever you charge them, and registering lets you reclaim VAT on your own purchases. If you sell to the public, registration is effectively a price rise or a cut in margin, so model it before you approach the threshold rather than after.
One-off spikes. If you go over the threshold only temporarily, you may apply for an exception from registration, but you must ask rather than assume, and you must be able to show why turnover will fall back.
Late registration. VAT is due from the date you should have been registered, whether or not you charged it. That money comes out of your own pocket, along with a penalty.
What this checker does not do. It does not decide whether a particular sale is taxable, exempt or outside the scope, and that question decides the figure you feed into it. Where the answer matters, take advice.
Sources, and when we checked them
Figures and both tests checked against GOV.UK, VAT registration, when to register on 18th September 2026. Every statutory figure this site uses is listed with its date and source on the rates page.
A fuller explanation sits in the guide to the VAT threshold for 2026/27.