Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A
Hi loufairy 2
You don’t have to have a shop but you do need to be in business, that means getting yourself registered for VAT.
Basically you need to prove your are in trade.
hi loufairy,
I too am in a similar situation to you, I am in the process of setting myself up as a business. It has always been my understanding that you register with HMRC as a business for income tax purposes but you register for vat when earnings reach a certain threshold or if you expect to reach the threshold with 30 days, I believe the threshold stands at £81,000 at the moment.
You can though voluntarily register for vat if you so wish which could be of benefit to you, ie if you sell 0 rated tax items but buy standard rated items you would receive vat refund from hrmc, and similarly if you haven’t yet sold anything or don’t sell anything in a vat period you may be able to claim VAT refund but most wait until they reach the threshold if ever.
As for wholesalers my ex worked from home and he had accounts with manufacturers and wholesalers and was not vat registered
The wholesaler is mis informed. Lots of people run their business from home so their home is the business premises. mrsboots has given you the correct information on VAT. Register straight away and start reaping the benefits on your purchases for your business. Cakes are 0 rated but you’ll have to charge your customers VAT on non zero rated items.
Have a look at what the Pro membership offers, it covers every single thing you need to know about setting up in business. The advice in David’s courses is invaluable for anyone starting up. You can have a chat with David for more information and guidance here http://www.cakeflix.com/ask-david
Take a peek here too http://www.cakeflix.com/get-started-with-pro-membership
Wishing you both the best in your business ventures.
sorry for the delay in answering, locked myself out of the account lol. thanks so much for the replies, very helpful indeed. It was a particular wholesaler I asked (cant remember who was a while back) and they said they only sell to you if you have a shop, bakers, cafes etc. Can anyone recommend a wholesaler I could approach?
Before the site was revamped Paul had a list of traders which has now disappeared. In that list was BFP which is a wholesaler. I don’t know exactly what they wholesale but it’s worth giving them a call. I believe they have depots all over the UK so there may be one in your area if you are UK based.
I think quite a few of the online cake decorating companies offer wholesale. I know the cake decorating company does, so does Culpitts and there’s this company http://www.thegreatcakewarehouse.co.uk/
Try googling ‘wholesale cake decorating supplies or suppliers’ and see what that throws up.
I’m not in business and don’t buy wholesale but I do use the cake decorating company and Squires Kitchen a lot. They both give excellent service and are really helpful.
Here’s the link for Squire’s Kitchen trade
http://trade.squires-kitchen.com/Logon/Logon
Hope some of them are suitable.
