I was inquiring as to whether I HAVE to use VAT registered tradesmen to carry out work on my property. I have some electrical work which needs carrying out and although the electrician is fully qualified and registered, he is willing to do the work for me in his own time rather than during the working hours of the franchise company he works for. This will obviously have an advantage in the price charged, but I won't get a full VAT receipt, just a locally produced one. Will this suffice for my records/accounts needs for revenue expenditure?

You do not have to use a VAT registered tradesman. A receipt or invoice that doesn’t show VAT is still sufficient for your business records needs. A tradesman who does not charge VAT can be doing so completely legitimately – if his annual turnover is less than £77,000 he does not need to register for VAT. However there was a debate in the news a month ago concerning a statement by a minister in the Treasury who claimed that it is morally wrong to pay cash to a tradesman in order to avoid tax.