vat question for a sole trader

how do i claim diesel on my vat return form. im a sole trader supplying a trade and im only starting out so im finding it hard to get my head around the vat issue yet. any help will be appriciated.

What system are you using to record your expences? This should split out the VAT element of any diesel you purchase similar to any other invoices and you can reclaim bi-monthly

I assume you have lots of receipts where you paid cash or credit card.

The VAT rate on diesel is 21% (or 21.5% before 31 Dec 2009). If you have a receipt for €60, €49.59 is P&L expense, €10.41 is VAT reclaim and €60 is what you paid (bank, petty cash, credit card).

So you reclaim €10 in your VAT return under T2.

Your sales VAT goes into your T1 and T3 will show your payable / refund amount.

As the previous poster said, you should be recording your sales and purchases in some sort of record keeping system. Have you spoken to your accountant yet. Its important that you keep proper records as you go along to keep your year end accountancy costs down.

Hope that helps.

thanks for the advise. it was a big help as im only starting a new business.

Best of luck DONEG304---get into the habit of documenting everything from the start, even if its just in excel----save you lots of headaches later!