Value Added Tax Act 1994 section Schedule 1 paragraphs 9–10

Entitlement to be registered

Section Schedule 1 paragraphs 9 and 10 deal with the right of persons who are not obliged to register for VAT to apply for voluntary registration, either because they make taxable supplies or because they make certain overseas supplies while being based in the UK.

• A person who is not required to register for VAT but who already makes taxable supplies, or who is in business and intends to make them, may request voluntary registration from HMRC.
• A person based in the UK who makes supplies outside the UK that would be taxable if made here — and who does not make or intend to make UK taxable supplies — may also request voluntary registration.
• Registration takes effect from the date of the request, or from an earlier date agreed between the person and HMRC.
• A business operating through a UK branch or agency is treated as having a UK business establishment, and for a corporate body its "usual place of residence" means the place where it is legally constituted.