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Keep an eye on the VAT threshold before you cross it by accident

Your turnover is creeping up and you've heard you must register for VAT once you pass a limit. Get a rolling 12-month check in a spreadsheet and the GOV.UK rules to read.

Updated 17 Oct 2026

The prompt · ChatGPT

Help me keep track of how close I am to the VAT registration threshold.

What I sell: [goods or services]
Monthly sales for the last 12 months: [list, month by month]
Sales I think might be exempt or zero-rated: [e.g. children's clothes, or none]

First ask me up to 3 short questions. Wait for my answers.

Then:
1. Look up the current VAT registration threshold on GOV.UK and name the page.
2. My rolling 12-month total, and how far I am from the threshold.
3. If it continues at my recent rate, roughly when I'd cross it.
4. A plain summary of what happens if I go over, including the separate rule that I must also register if I expect to go over the threshold in the next 30 days alone, with the GOV.UK link (gov.uk/register-for-vat), and what to ask an accountant.
5. A Google Sheets layout with a formula that adds up the last 12 months and warns me.

Not tax advice; tell me to check with HMRC or an accountant. Only use what I've told you, leave blanks for anything I haven't given, and don't invent facts or figures. UK English.

For the current VAT registration threshold on GOV.UK, use web search and name the page you used. If it doesn't search on its own, open View all tools and choose Search.

Stay in this ChatGPT chat. Do not turn on apps or connectors, and do not use memory from another chat.

A short example

Fill the blanks, then paste. goods or services: a short note you already have. list, month by month: a short note you already have. Leave the rest of the prompt as written.

This does not give tax advice. The books stay in the accounting system.

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