What documents do I need ?

If in doubt, simply send me everything you have, in a box or parcel: plans, invoices, delivery notes, retail till receipts, credit card slips, builders merchants’ account statements, etc.

"Converters" (of barns, etc) who employ contractors must also send me the Specification and other documents which describe and define the work done and, if the builder supplied the materials used in the job, some indication of the materials used.

All clients should send me:

The Planning Permission - for the construction or for the conversion of your property ("shell unit" or warehouse loft clients - I will advise you individually)

Plans and drawings of the development - including, if possible, one of the copies with the planning officer’s approval stamp on it. If the plans were drawn professionally, please send me all of the detailed drawings, not just the "general arrangement". Clients with "conversions" should send an "Existing" or "survey" plan (before development) as well as the plans of the works.

Invoices and bills - for all of your expenditure. I will sort out what we can claim. You must send "originals". Photocopies are usually unacceptable unless they are certified as duplicates by the business which issued them. I shall file your invoices neatly and tidily for easy checking by the VAT inspector; you should get them back in the same order. If you have brought materials or fittings in from another country, please send me shipping /transit documents or a note of how they came in from abroad. We can claim EU VAT back.

Credit Notes

You may have credit notes for returned goods, shortages, breakages which are not your fault, price adjustments and so on. These must be declared, even though they usually reduce the amount of VAT you can claim.

Statements of Account

These will help me to make sure that I have received all the invoices and credit notes. If you have an account with a builders’ merchant, please send me the monthly statements - they will also help the VAT Office to verify the expenditure and to check that you have not ignored the credits.

Certificate of completion

The documentary evidence required by the VAT Office is the Building Regulations certificate from the building inspector in the local authority. This proves that you have actually built a home and defines a cut-off point for eligible expenditure, except that you can claim for further essential work to finish the building – such as painting and decorating. It can also mark the start of the 3-month period after completion in which you must make the claim. I have produced a separate leaflet about alternative evidence which is acceptable.