File your company’s VAT return
A VAT-registered company files a VAT return for each VAT period through software that works with Making Tax Digital, usually one month and seven days after the period ends. Fileyear reads the open period from HMRC, works out the nine boxes from the company’s bank transactions, and sends the return once you have checked it, using your own HMRC sign-in.
- Prepared for you, checked by you
- Pay only when you’ve checked it
- Not HMRC or Companies House
Each VAT period
- The VAT period endsHMRC opens the return for that period.
- Connect to HMRCSign in to HMRC once and grant Fileyear access to the VAT account.
- Fileyear works out the nine boxesFrom the bank transactions in the period. You check the VAT on each one.
- Submit to HMRCBy one month and seven days after the period ends, with the VAT paid by then too.
- LatePenalty points for a late return, and interest and penalties for late VAT.
Can Fileyear file this VAT return?
You’ll answer these when you start, before you pay anything.
- The company is VAT-registered and signed up for Making Tax Digital for VAT
- It uses standard VAT accounting, cash accounting, the Flat Rate Scheme or annual accounting, with or without the margin scheme or the point of sale retail scheme
- It is not in a VAT group, and does not use the apportionment or direct calculation retail schemes
- This return does not correct a mistake on an earlier one
What’s included
Fileyear does
- The open VAT periods, read from HMRC
- The nine boxes, worked out from the company’s bank
- HMRC’s checks before it is sent
- A copy of the return and HMRC’s receipt
You do
- Connect Fileyear to the business’s HMRC VAT account
- Check the VAT on each transaction
- Confirm HMRC’s declaration and submit
How it works
Connect to HMRC
Sign in to HMRC and grant Fileyear access to the VAT account.
Check the VAT
Fileyear works out each transaction’s VAT from the bank. Change any it got wrong.
Submit
Confirm HMRC’s declaration. HMRC’s receipt shows straight away.
The rules
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Software | Making Tax Digital for VAT: returns go to HMRC through software |
| Deadline | One month and seven days after the VAT period ends |
| Payment | The same deadline, using the VAT registration number as the reference |
| Late return | A penalty point each time, and a £200 penalty once the points threshold is reached |
| Government fee | None |
Questions directors ask
Which VAT schemes does Fileyear support?
Standard VAT accounting (give the unpaid invoices at the end of the period; the start comes from your last return), the Cash Accounting Scheme, the Flat Rate Scheme on its cash based turnover method, and the Annual Accounting Scheme, with monthly or quarterly instalments. Partial exemption, the margin scheme for second-hand goods (item by item or global accounting) and the point of sale retail scheme are worked out too.
What adjustments can I make?
Bad debt relief, the road fuel scale charge, postponed import VAT from the monthly statements, import VAT paid at the border, the reverse charges for construction and services from abroad, CIS deducted from the company’s sales, and goods between Northern Ireland and the EU.
How much is an annual return?
The same as any other VAT return, £14.40.
Where do the figures come from?
From the company’s bank transactions for the VAT period: the statement you already gave Fileyear for the accounts, or one you add for the period. Fileyear suggests each transaction’s VAT from what it is, and you can change any of them.
Does Fileyear keep my HMRC password?
No. You sign in on HMRC’s own page and grant Fileyear access to the VAT account. Fileyear keeps HMRC’s access token, encrypted, and never sees your password.
Can I see what HMRC has?
Yes. Once the return is filed you can see it as HMRC holds it, with what the company owes and what HMRC has received.
Guides for this filing
Related filings
File your company’s VAT return, prepared for you
Enter your company and Fileyear prepares it. You only pay once you’ve checked it.