How to Complete and Submit Form VAT7: Deadlines and Final Return

To complete and submit Form VAT7, gather your nine-digit VAT registration number, the date you want cancellation to take effect, the reason you’re cancelling, your bank details for any refund, and the current market value of any stock and assets you still hold. You then file the form online through your Government Gateway business tax account, or send a paper copy by post to HMRC. Approval usually arrives within about three weeks, after which you submit a final VAT return.

Check You’re Filing the Right Form

VAT7 cancels your registration. It is not the form to use if you’re selling the business as a going concern and the buyer wants to keep your existing VAT number — in that case the buyer files Form VAT68 alongside their own registration application.¹ You do use VAT7 for a going-concern transfer when the buyer does not want your VAT number, or when you’re not continuing to trade at all; on the form you select “transfer of a going concern” as the reason and indicate the new owner isn’t keeping the number.² Getting this wrong loses the continuity of records the buyer might have wanted.

You’re entitled to file VAT7 if you’ve stopped trading, stopped making taxable supplies, changed the legal structure of your business, or if your taxable turnover for the past 12 months has fallen below £88,000.³ You can also apply if most or all of your supplies are zero-rated.⁴

Information You Need Before You Start

Have the following ready:

Your nine-digit VAT registration number, found on your registration certificate and every return you’ve filed.
The requested cancellation date. If you’ve stopped trading, this is your last day of business. For a voluntary deregistration it can be the date you submit the form or an agreed later date. HMRC has the final say and may adjust it.
The reason for cancellation. The form asks you to pick one: stopped trading, taxable turnover below the threshold, changing legal entity, transfer of a going concern, or applying for exemption from registration.
Your bank sort code and account number, so HMRC can pay any refund after your final return.
The current market value of any goods, stock, equipment, and land interests you still hold and on which you claimed input tax. Use the price you’d expect to pay for them in their present condition, not the original purchase price.

Working Out VAT on Stock and Assets

When you deregister, HMRC treats the business assets you still hold as a deemed supply, as though you sold them to yourself on the last day of registration. You calculate the VAT that would be due on those assets at current market value. If the total VAT on all included assets comes to £1,000 or less, you owe nothing. For standard-rated goods at 20%, that means a total gross value of £6,000 or less triggers no charge.²

Above £1,000, you account for VAT on all the included assets on your final return. Included: tangible goods on which you reclaimed VAT (stock, equipment, vehicles, computers) and interests in land where an option to tax was made. Excluded: intangible assets such as patents, copyrights, and goodwill.²

Capital Goods Scheme Adjustments

If your business holds assets covered by the Capital Goods Scheme (typically land, property, or computer equipment costing over £250,000 excluding VAT), deregistration triggers a final adjustment. The remaining years of the adjustment period are treated as linked to exempt use, so you may have to repay part of the input tax originally claimed. For a property partway through its ten-year period, the figure can be substantial. Work it out before you submit VAT7 so it appears correctly on your final return.

Submitting the Form

Online

The fastest route is through your business tax account. Sign in to the Government Gateway and go to the deregistration service. Online submission is available if you’ve stopped trading (and aren’t part of a VAT group), your taxable turnover is below £88,000, you’ve stopped making taxable supplies, or you’re applying for a zero-rated exemption.³ You get an immediate acknowledgment and avoid postal delays.

By Post

If you can’t use the online service (for example, because you’re part of a VAT group), send the completed VAT7 to:

BT VAT
HM Revenue and Customs
BX9 1WR
United Kingdom⁵

Paper applications take longer and carry the usual postal risks. Tracked or recorded delivery is sensible.

Deadlines That Affect When You File

If cancellation is mandatory because you’ve stopped being eligible to be registered, you must notify HMRC within 30 days of becoming ineligible or face a penalty.³ The penalty is a daily charge under Section 69 of the VAT Act 1994, with a minimum of £50, and can be avoided if you show HMRC a reasonable excuse for the delay.⁶ For a voluntary deregistration there’s no equivalent deadline; you file when it suits you.

After You Submit

Confirmation and the Effective Date

HMRC usually confirms your cancellation within three weeks.³ The confirmation letter states the effective date of cancellation. For a voluntary request, HMRC cancels from the date you asked or a later agreed date. For a mandatory cancellation where you’ve already stopped trading, the effective date can be backdated to the day you ceased taxable activity, provided you weren’t required to be registered under any other provision at that time.⁷

From the day of the effective date onward, stop charging VAT on your invoices. Any VAT you charge after that date must still be paid to HMRC, so the timing matters.

Your Final VAT Return

Once cancellation is confirmed, file a final VAT return covering the period up to and including the cancellation date.³ Include any VAT due on the deemed supply of remaining stock and assets (where the total exceeds the £1,000 threshold) and any Capital Goods Scheme adjustment.

You have one month from the effective cancellation date to submit this return, plus an additional seven days if you file electronically.⁸ File electronically through your Government Gateway account if at all possible; paper filing for the final return is rarely available and the deadline is tighter.

After HMRC processes the return, any refund owed goes to the bank account you gave on the form. If you owe money, HMRC issues a payment demand. Keep your VAT records for at least six years after cancellation, because HMRC can audit past periods even after you’ve left the register.

1
GOV.UK. Transfer a Business as a Going Concern (VAT Notice 700/9)
2
HM Revenue & Customs. VAT Notice 700/11: Cancelling Your Registration
3
GOV.UK. Register for VAT – Cancel Your VAT Registration
4
GOV.UK. Who Should Register for VAT — VAT Notice 700/1
5
GOV.UK. VAT: Registration Applications and Changes Enquiries
6
legislation.gov.uk. Value Added Tax Act 1994 – Section 69
7
legislation.gov.uk. Value Added Tax Act 1994 – Schedule 1
8
legislation.gov.uk. The Value Added Tax (Amendment) Regulations 2025