For a UK VAT-registered company, the VAT app (its page is titled Indirect Tax) works out the figures for each of the nine boxes of the VAT return from the entries already in your books.
Calculate a return
- Open the VAT app and choose VAT return (the other view is Records).
- Enter your VAT registration number (VRN), which is nine digits.
- Select Load obligations to list your VAT periods, then Start return on the period you want.
- Choose the VAT scheme. Calculating from your books works only with Standard (invoice basis). Cash accounting and Flat rate are refused with a message that the scheme is not yet supported from the books.
- Select Calculate.
Review the nine boxes
The Review the nine boxes table lists each box with its amount in GBP: VAT due on sales, VAT due on acquisitions from the EU/NI, Total VAT due, VAT reclaimed on purchases, Net VAT to pay or reclaim, and the totals of sales, purchases, supplies of goods to the EU/NI and acquisitions of goods, ex VAT. The Net VAT to pay or reclaim figure is followed by payable, reclaimable or nil.
For any box, select Show contributions to see every source behind the figure and its Calculation reference. This lets you check a number back to the invoice, credit note, bill or expense that produced it.
What goes into it
The calculation reads the tax code carried by each posted line of invoices, credit notes, bills and expenses: net and VAT are paired per journal and tax code. A reversal stays in its own period, so earlier periods are never rewritten. Lines with no tax code are outside the scope of VAT and are not counted, which is why a VAT-registered company must code every sales line. Select Recalculate after you change the books. Once you have made HMRC's declaration (I declare this) the return is locked and cannot be recalculated; Submit to HMRC then sends it.
Boxes 1 to 5 are in pounds and pence, and boxes 6 to 9 in whole pounds.
Calculating a return is for owners and admins.