The VAT return turns your categorised bank lines, invoices and purchases into the nine boxes for one quarter. Nothing is sent to HMRC. You file these figures yourself. Your accountant can file these figures with their own software.
- Open Tax, then VAT return, choose a quarter under Quarter ending and press Show. The list holds the quarter in progress and the last eight, and Show all quarters adds the older ones. The first line names the scheme and method behind the figures.
- Read the nine boxes in order. Each shows its working beneath it, and no box is treated as more important than another.
- If lines have no category, the screen shows a range such as "At least £2,560.34, up to £3,645.14" for Box 5 instead of the boxes. Press Needs a category, categorise those lines, then return.
- If income lines are waiting to be confirmed, the Filing section says so. Press Needs confirming and confirm each one.
- Once the quarter has ended and Filing shows no refusal, press Finalise this quarter and confirm. The confirmation states that nothing is submitted to HMRC.
- A finalised quarter reads "Finalised, not yet submitted to HMRC."
- If a record changes after filing, the filed figure stays and the change is noted beside it. File an updated version stores a second record and keeps the first.
Cases
- The range is exact arithmetic, never a guess. Each uncategorised line is taken at the rate on its own date, and filing is still refused until every line has a category.
- Unconfirmed income is excluded from Boxes 1 and 6 and cannot be filed.
- On the Standard Scheme, confirmed income that no invoice explains is left out of the figures and blocks filing. The Filing section says to raise an invoice and allocate the payment, split the invoice, or change the line's category.
- Purchases waiting for evidence cannot be filed. The Filing section links to Purchases waiting for evidence. Add the supplier VAT number or VAT invoice, or accept zero VAT.
- A quarter with no bank data is not shown as £0.00. The screen says nothing has been imported.
- Flat Rate Scheme, cash basis: flat-rate VAT is computed per invoice and summed, using ROUND_HALF_UP, so £0.465 becomes £0.47.
- Flat Rate Scheme, invoice basis: an invoice counts in the quarter of its tax point, which is the invoice date or the first payment if that came earlier.
- Standard Scheme, invoice accounting: Box 1 is the VAT on invoices issued, Box 6 is net of VAT and Box 7 is net of all purchases.
- Standard Scheme, cash accounting: the VAT on a sale counts when each payment reaches your bank, in proportion to what was paid.
- Not VAT registered: the screen reads "Nothing to file" and shows no boxes.
- Members can read all nine boxes but are not offered the finalise button. Owners, admins and accountants are.
Good practice
- Clear To classify and Needs confirming before the quarter ends, so the range closes to one figure.
- Read the tax-point sentence and confirm it with your accountant before you file.
- Treat filed figures as locked. Corrections of up to £10,000 net VAT adjust on the current return. Above that they're listed but left out of the boxes, and you report them to HMRC separately, through its online error-correction service or by letter. The app files nothing itself.