Tbf he has a vat registration number on his invoice. There was no way he was getting it though
Did he specifically quote the price as being exclusive of VAT when he gave you his figure? I always thought that if a business quoted a price
to a member of the public that it was implied that the price was
inclusive of VAT (if applicable), unless specifically stated otherwise. Certainly in the past when I was involved in a VAT-registered business, when quoting another business
all quotes specifically stated
"price exclusive of VAT, which will be levied at the current applicable rate(s)" whereas quotes to private customers always stated
"price inclusive of VAT at currently applicable rate(s)" (as recommended by HMCE VAT Office at the time). So, my feeling is that if he didn't state it at the beginning, he can't now add it on - that's his problem.
In any case, in my experience it is relatively uncommon for a sole trader doing private work to be VAT registered. If nothing else the extra 20% VAT on top of their bill makes them a lot less attractive to potential (retail) customers, whereas when they were dealing with larger firms there is pressure to be VAT registered and charge VAT, so that the customer can offset input VAT against their output VAT. A few guys I have known who did get close to the VAT threshold have done something like set-up a second business in the wife's name, the son's name, as a partnership (e.g. Bloggs and Daughter), hell even in the budgie's name to avoid exceeding the quarterly VAT threshold
www.gov.uk
