What is the impact of adding a VAT number to my Prolific workspace?

Researchers based in countries that are part of the EU VAT regime

  • If you are from a European country outside of the UK, and are purchasing on behalf of a VAT (value added tax) registered institution, it is important to add their VAT number to your workspace to ensure the correct VAT treatment. Failure to do this in advance often results in delays in getting invoices paid / reimbursed by finance departments. Most businesses and universities are registered for VAT, but if you are unsure we recommend speaking to your finance department.
  • Once you have added a valid VAT number, your invoices will be subject to reverse-charge VAT. This means no VAT will be included in the invoice total and instead any VAT is accounted for by your institution.

Researchers based in the UK

  • There is no obligation to add your institution's VAT number to your Prolific workspace. If you are based in the UK, VAT will be charged at 20% on all of our platform fees regardless of whether there is a VAT number held on your workspace. If your institution would like their VAT number to appear on invoices produced from your workspace, you can follow the steps to add your VAT number below.

Researchers based outside of the EU VAT regime

  • If you are based in a country that is not part of the EU VAT regime then you will not need to add a VAT number. This is because you are not required to pay VAT.

How do I add a VAT number to my workspace?

Before adding or changing VAT details, check you are in the correct workspace. You can navigate to the correct workspace if needed.

You can see if a VAT number is registered to your workspace on the Settings page. To do this:

  • Select the ‘Settings’ tab in the left sidebar
  • Under the 'Name and Office Address' header, check the ‘VAT number (optional)’ field

If you need to add a VAT number to your workspace:

  • Select the ‘Add’ button next to the ‘VAT number (optional)’ label
  • Add your VAT details in the popup and select ‘Apply’

To edit your VAT number, select ‘Edit’ next to your current VAT number.

Please note that your workspace cannot have multiple VAT statuses at any one time and therefore, you can only add a VAT number if:

  • your workspace balance is nil;
  • your workspace has no active studies (studies that are published, but not completed); and
  • your workspace has no saved draft studies (studies that are created, but not published)

If the above conditions are not met, you will receive a notification that you need to contact Support to change these details.

You won't need to contact support if you just need to delete your draft studies or complete any active studies, as these can both be done from the 'studies' section of your workspace.

If you would like to request a refund of the unspent participant rewards in your workspace, or if you need any help, please get in touch with our Support Team using the button below.

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