VAT returns for your company: when they’re due, what goes in them and what late costs

When a company must register

A company must register for VAT if its taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000, within 30 days of the end of the month it went over. It must also register if it expects to go over £90,000 in the next 30 days alone⁵.

The deadline

Returns are due one calendar month and 7 days after the end of the accounting period¹.

The payment deadline is the same day, and the money must be in HMRC’s account by then, so allow time for it to clear¹.

Making Tax Digital

“All VAT-registered businesses should now be signed up for Making Tax Digital for VAT”². “You must now use compatible software to keep your VAT records and file your VAT Returns”³.

Late returns

Late VAT returns are penalised with points. Each late return adds a point; when the company reaches its threshold it pays a £200 penalty, and another £200 for each further late return while it stays at the threshold⁴:

This applies to periods starting on or after 1 January 2023, and to nil and repayment returns too⁴. Late payment is penalised separately, with interest.

A dormant company that’s still registered

A VAT-registered company still files its returns while it isn’t trading, nil returns included¹. If it won’t trade again, read dormant companies for when to cancel the registration instead.

Filing your return

Fileyear’s VAT return connects to the company’s VAT account with your own HMRC sign-in, reads the open VAT periods from HMRC, and works out the nine boxes from the company’s bank transactions for the period, with the VAT on each line for you to check. It covers standard VAT accounting, the Cash Accounting Scheme, the Flat Rate Scheme and annual accounting, and sends the return through Making Tax Digital once you confirm HMRC’s declaration. A VAT group, the apportionment and direct calculation retail schemes, and corrections of earlier returns are outside what it files.