John Lewis splits >£2000 order in 2 receipts

[ujjain]

I have placed an order of around £2250 yesterday at John Lewis.

They said it always takes a while until the receipt is available online, but I was surprised to see that they split the receipt in 2 separate receipts.

Does that mean I cannot reclaim VAT of 20%?

[Louisa@InTouch]

Apple do the same thing as well!

As long as you have the order that confirms that you spent more than £2,000 in the one purchase initially, this would be enough evidence for HMRC.

So, you can still go ahead and reclaim the VAT

[ujjain]

Ah, that's great to hear Louisa.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

I had this with Apple.

HMRC guidance does not actually say "single invoice" but it says "single purchase". Purchase is not defined so I think it's reasonable to take this at face value.

Therefore even if you get two invoices you should have a purchase receipt clearly showing you made a single purchase of goods.

In fact with Apple they helpfully put the same order reference on each invoice further reinforcing they relate to a single purchase.

My accountant tells me that this is fine if you're claiming back the VAT.

So kee everything - you need the VAT invoices to claim the VAT and the purchase to show they were a single purchase of goods.

[DallasDad]

ok obvious question, why does the retailer do this?

[PerfectStorm]

ok obvious question, why does the retailer do this?

Different items shopping at different times, or from different offshore companies as a tax dodge?

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

ok obvious question, why does the retailer do this?

They split the order up internally, which results in separate invoices being generated once they ship.

[ujjain]

Thank you for your email regarding the payments on your order.

Please accept my apology for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

The reason for the two separate amounts was because some of our items came from different warehouses so they were billed separately.

If you require any further assistance, please contact us.

Yours sincerely,

JohnLewis.com

[SueEllen]

Thank you for your email regarding the payments on your order.

Please accept my apology for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

The reason for the two separate amounts was because some of our items came from different warehouses so they were billed separately.

If you require any further assistance, please contact us.

Yours sincerely,

JohnLewis.com

I could have told you that and so could anyone who ever had a job in retail.

[DallasDad]

Oh ok that makes sense if it is for multiple purchases.
I had assumed this was for a single item.