ac wrote:

Does anyone know for certain yet if raising an invoice prior to 31 Dec is possible and whether dealers can/will do it?

I spoke to HMRC's helpline & they were adament that as long as the parties were not associated, <100k and paid for within 6 mths of invoice, the raising of an invoice changed the tax point to that date. I explained specifically what the issue was & they were certain of it but flagged up that it was up to the seller if they wanted to raise the vat invoice ahead of delivery and that it then created a liability on the dealer to pay the vat on their next vat quarter end.
Dealers all appear to be playing it safe though - or perhaps they & the manufacturers are just milking the situation to enable them to push pre-31/12 sales & therefore cashflow

dejongj wrote:

Its one thing doing it for services, but for goods not yet supplied nor build it very grey..... there is no reasonable business reason for doing this other than avoiding tax.

There is nothing unusual in a business invoicing & requesting payment in advance of goods being available - indeed this is commonplace for special orders in many businesses as they could otherwise manufacture goods that are not readily re-saleable and then find the buyer disappears. With cars, although they are resaleable, the individual spec/options may create an issue for ease of sale & in any event be surplus to the dealer's normal stock levels.
What surprises me is that HMRC have not produced an advice note setting out their position - it's almost as if they want to cause a situation of uncertainty.