Will contractors please stop claiming that they "raise VAT"!
There is literally zero "VAT raised" by IT or similar contractors unless they are working for a consumer who cannot reclaim it - hardly likely.
VAT is invoiced to the, ahem, "employer", OK, Buyer. The buyer reclaims the VAT in full. End of story.
Oh, actually it isn't the end of the story because some contractors leverage a flat rate VAT scheme to actually retain a small sliver of the VAT they charge. Yet the buyer still reclaims the full amount of VAT. So this is in fact a net loss to the Exchequer. This only applies to contractors who don't get a benefit from reclaiming VAT on their purchases (because their purchases are so much lower than their sales).
Biting the hand that feeds IT
