Who registers with HMRC?

For an LLP registered at Companies House since 25 October 2010, HMRC normally opens the LLP’s partnership Self Assessment record from the Companies House information. Check that the LLP receives its own tax reference and that the details are correct; if a reference is missing, ask HMRC what needs to be resolved. The LLP may need to send a Partnership Tax Return, for which the nominated partner is responsible. Members still register separately: an individual member normally uses the SA401 process, and a company or other non-individual member normally uses SA402. These tax steps do not register the LLP for VAT or give it an EORI number.

These records have different purposes. The LLP’s partnership tax reference does not replace a member’s own tax reference. If a member already has a tax reference, that member should check how to register their partnership status rather than assume a new personal reference is required.

Before arranging member registrations or preparing a Partnership Tax Return, establish when the LLP began business, its accounting date and who the members are. Check whether anyone has joined or left since incorporation. Those facts matter for the LLP’s tax record and each member’s separate position. If the LLP has not yet begun trading, check with HMRC or your accountant what reporting is required now and when the business starts; incorporation and starting to trade are different events.

How are LLP members taxed?

An LLP carrying on business with a view to profit is normally treated as a partnership for UK tax on its income and gains. Its members are generally taxed on their shares: an individual may be liable to Income Tax and a corporate member may be liable to Corporation Tax. The LLP still has partnership filing duties. Special rules may apply, including where a member is treated as a salaried member or the LLP is not carrying on business with a view to profit.

Do not use a VAT registration decision to infer the members’ income tax treatment. The questions are different: who earned the profits, where they arose, how they are allocated and what each member must report. An accountant should review the LLP agreement and actual transactions where the shares or activities are unclear, particularly when members live in different countries.

If the members live in the UK

An individual member should check their own Self Assessment registration and report their share of LLP profits as required. The LLP’s partnership return is a separate filing. If a member is a company, that company needs to consider its own Corporation Tax position.

If the LLP makes taxable supplies, an authorised member can arrange a VAT application in the LLP’s name when registration is required or appropriate. If the LLP moves goods across a border, the member can arrange the appropriate EORI application for the LLP. Neither application is needed simply because a member lives in the UK. A member with a separate business checks that business’s VAT and EORI needs separately.

For example, two UK-resident members may run one LLP that supplies professional services. They should address the LLP’s partnership filing and their individual tax records, then examine its own VAT turnover and supplies. They do not apply for two VAT numbers for the LLP. If there are no customs-related goods movements, EORI may have no practical role in that business.

If one or more members live outside the UK

An overseas member’s residence does not by itself settle their UK tax position. A non-resident individual can be taxable in the UK on their share of UK profits. A non-resident company raises different UK presence and Corporation Tax questions. The location of the work, the member’s tax residence and any applicable treaty should be checked before deciding what the member must file.

An authorised overseas member can arrange an LLP VAT or EORI application using the LLP’s details, subject to the correct application and evidence requirements. Their overseas address does not automatically prevent the LLP from registering, and it does not entitle the LLP to registration. For VAT, establish where the LLP itself is managed and makes supplies; for customs, establish who moves the goods and makes the declaration. Coddan can review the application information and tell you what work it can accept. Where the tax or customs position needs a specialist decision first, we will identify that before proceeding.

If the overseas member also has a separate business making taxable supplies in the UK, that business may have its own UK VAT duty, sometimes from its first taxable UK supply if it has no UK establishment. If that separate business undertakes customs activity, it should check whether it can obtain a GB EORI number or needs a customs representative. Those are questions about the member’s other business, not registrations granted to them merely for joining the LLP.

Consider a UK LLP with one member in London and another abroad. The LLP may apply for VAT in its own name if its supplies require or justify registration. The overseas member’s personal tax obligations still need to be considered separately. If the LLP imports goods, the member abroad can help organise the LLP’s EORI application, but the goods movement, importer and customs declaration must identify the correct business.

Who applies for VAT registration?

If the LLP makes the business supplies, the VAT question normally belongs to the LLP. Its members do not each obtain a VAT number for the same LLP turnover. A member can have a separate VAT registration if that member also carries on a genuinely separate business. This is a different question from the tax each member may owe on a share of LLP profits.

First establish what the LLP sells, where its supplies take place and whether it is established in the UK for VAT. A UK-established LLP may need to register when its taxable turnover meets HMRC’s current rules; voluntary registration may also be possible. If the LLP has no UK establishment but makes taxable supplies in the UK, different registration rules can apply without the ordinary turnover threshold. Overseas members alone do not decide whether the LLP has a UK VAT establishment. Equally, a UK registered office on its own does not establish where the LLP actually manages and carries on business for VAT purposes.

Work from the LLP’s actual invoices, expected sales and place of business. Selling to a customer outside the UK does not by itself tell you whether the supply is taxable here, and a low level of sales does not answer the registration question for a business without a UK establishment. Exempt supplies and zero-rated supplies have different consequences. If these distinctions affect the application, establish them with a VAT specialist rather than choosing a registration category from the LLP’s postal address or the members’ passports.

How do UK-based and overseas members make the application?

An authorised member or properly appointed agent, including Coddan when instructed and authorised, can prepare the LLP’s VAT application using the LLP’s business details and the relevant member information. The member’s country of residence does not turn the LLP’s application into that member’s personal VAT registration. HMRC usually provides an online application, although particular cases require extra information or a different process. Check the correct applicant, the business address, the nature and place of supplies, and the authority to act before submitting.

Does the LLP or a member need an EORI number?

An EORI number identifies the person or business involved in relevant customs activities. If the LLP is carrying out the goods movement in its own name, check the LLP’s EORI requirement. A member’s foreign residence does not automatically mean each member needs a separate EORI number. If a member independently imports or exports through a separate business, that business may need its own number.

An LLP moving goods to or from Great Britain generally needs a GB EORI number. Certain movements involving Northern Ireland may call for an XI number; customs declarations in the EU may require an EU-issued EORI number or a qualifying XI number. The numbers are not interchangeable. A UK LLP registered at Companies House is treated as UK-established for the customs establishment check, but you still need to identify who is making the declaration and where the goods move. If a customs agent is involved, agree whose details and EORI number the agent will use before the first shipment.

If the goods are bought or sold by somebody other than the LLP, identify that person before applying in the LLP’s name. The purchase contract, invoices, shipping instructions and proposed customs declaration should tell a consistent story. An EORI number identifies the trader for customs purposes; it does not appoint a customs agent, make the goods compliant or settle who pays import duties and taxes.

How can a member apply on the LLP’s behalf?

Confirm that the LLP is the person involved in the customs activity and that the member has authority to apply. Use the LLP’s details in HMRC’s EORI application, rather than the member’s personal details as though the member were the trader. HMRC may ask for the LLP’s Companies House number, tax or VAT information where available, and details relevant to the movement. A UK-resident member and a member living abroad can both arrange an application for the LLP if authorised; the LLP’s actual customs role determines what to request.

What happens after VAT registration?

Once registered, the LLP must keep the records needed for VAT and submit returns for its VAT periods, including periods with no VAT to pay. HMRC normally requires compatible software for digital VAT records and returns. Coddan can help prepare and submit the LLP’s VAT returns where that ongoing service is agreed. We will confirm what records you must provide, who reviews the figures and who remains responsible for approving the return and paying any VAT due. Registering for VAT does not automatically include a VAT returns service.

Keep the LLP’s sales and purchase information together from the effective date of registration, and make sure whoever prepares a return has the invoices and records for the whole period. If the LLP buys or sells internationally, tell the person preparing its VAT return: those transactions may need different treatment. Coddan will set out the reporting period and the records needed for the work it agrees to perform.

Can Coddan act as the LLP’s VAT agent?

Yes. The LLP can appoint Coddan as its VAT agent and authorise us to deal with HMRC for the agreed VAT work, including returns where instructed. We will explain how to give that authorisation and what we will handle. The LLP remains responsible for its VAT obligations and for supplying complete, accurate business records. If an overseas business needs a formal VAT representative, that is a different appointment and must be considered separately; appointing Coddan as an agent does not automatically make us that representative.

What should you tell Coddan?

Tell us whether your LLP has been formed, where its members live, whether any member is a company, where the work is carried out, what the LLP sells, and whether it will move goods across a border. If goods are involved, tell us where they start and finish and who will make the customs declaration.

Coddan can help with an LLP VAT application, an EORI application and, after registration, VAT returns when the work is agreed. We can also act as the LLP’s authorised VAT agent. We confirm the information, authority, fees and responsibilities before accepting an instruction. Questions about residence, profit allocation, overseas tax, VAT establishment, place of supply or customs liability may need your accountant, VAT specialist or customs adviser. HMRC decides whether to register the LLP and issues the VAT or EORI number; Coddan cannot guarantee either outcome.

Email Coddan about your LLP. Please do not send tax references or identity documents in an initial email.