MTD VAT

[snowy]

super7 said:

Nope..... use your govenrment gateway ID for your VAT registration. They send a couple of auth codes over the phone, take a few days, set up a new Direct Debit, Once setup you register via your MTD software...

Takes a few days but you can't register for MTD between 7 days before your VAT return is due and 8 days after (or something similar). So don't leave it Tooooooo late to register.

Do you have to register for MTD ? even now it is compulsory, I haven't registered, I just assumed that when I come around to sending my VAT return for period april->June this year using some MTD software it will just work assuming I put my gov gateway credentials in and current VAT details, etc etc into the app

[Squiddly Diddly]

super7 said:

Nope..... use your govenrment gateway ID for your VAT registration. They send a couple of auth codes over the phone, take a few days, set up a new Direct Debit, Once setup you register via your MTD software...

Takes a few days but you can't register for MTD between 7 days before your VAT return is due and 8 days after (or something similar). So don't leave it Tooooooo late to register.

Wonder why they need a new DD.

[super7]

snowy said:

super7 said:

Nope..... use your govenrment gateway ID for your VAT registration. They send a couple of auth codes over the phone, take a few days, set up a new Direct Debit, Once setup you register via your MTD software...

Takes a few days but you can't register for MTD between 7 days before your VAT return is due and 8 days after (or something similar). So don't leave it Tooooooo late to register.

Do you have to register for MTD ? even now it is compulsory, I haven't registered, I just assumed that when I come around to sending my VAT return for period april->June this year using some MTD software it will just work assuming I put my gov gateway credentials in and current VAT details, etc etc into the app

Yes you do....

[snowy]

super7 said:

Yes you do....

Thanks, I had better register then

[Ken Figenus]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

Well, that's the rub isn't it.

My accountants are pushing FreeAgent and have negotiated a discount *down* to the aforementioned £15pcm for it.

Now, if they had come to me and said "We'd like you to start using FreeAgent, and we've negotiated a discount such that it is included in our existing fees" then I'd probably have been ok with it. Even if next year their fees went up.
Hell, if they'd even said "We're putting our fees up, but a subscription to FreeAgent is included in the new fees" then I'd probably have grumbled a bit, but ultimately sucked it up.

I know. Silly isn't it.

I know exactly where you are coming from and I have been suckered into the 'pay forever' model of Xero via accountants sub of £11pcm despite saying I would resist such a supplier biased model and for what is just a fancy spreadsheet not the programming job of the century!

I used to give my accountants my VAT Excel sheets where I'd ported all bank statements and done my reconciling. In Xero I 'reconcile' debits as they appear telling Xero what has VAT etc So much of a muchness on that diligence really.

Now when it comes to submitting VAT I hope it will be a one click affair for this cost as Xero will have worked it all slickly out. This system is also more convenient for the accountant and if that helps keeps the fees down and avoid increases then so much the better. I guess they will still rattle through my receipts manually?

I don't know how I'm going to add the cash receipts when the time comes though - this was very simple on my Excel but seems outside the scope of Xero? Maybe another frustration fest to come!

[Clockwork Cupcake]

I moaned to my accountants that a full-fat subscription to Office365 is cheaper than the subscription to FreeAgent.

Their response was that they didn't think MS Office could do VAT returns.

Kind of missed the point that I was trying to make, which was that these accountancy packages are vastly overpriced. Especially when you consider that all we are going to be asking FreeAgent to do is exactly the same as an existing Excel spreadsheet plus bridging to the HMRC API.

With any luck someone will open source the bridging software.

[plasticpig]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

I moaned to my accountants that a full-fat subscription to Office365 is cheaper than the subscription to FreeAgent.

Their response was that they didn't think MS Office could do VAT returns.

Kind of missed the point that I was trying to make, which was that these accountancy packages are vastly overpriced. Especially when you consider that all we are going to be asking FreeAgent to do is exactly the same as an existing Excel spreadsheet plus bridging to the HMRC API.

With any luck someone will open source the bridging software.

You should point out to them that Office 365 can do VAT returns. Lot's of the Bridging Software are Excel plugins.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

Having said all this, as I sit down to do my (manual) VAT return with my Excel spreadsheet (I know, I know, leaving it a bit late) I am finding myself thinking how much easier it would be if all the bank records were automatically slurped up and reconciled automatically. So maybe there is some value in having some software.

[Ken Figenus]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

Having said all this, as I sit down to do my (manual) VAT return with my Excel spreadsheet (I know, I know, leaving it a bit late) I am finding myself thinking how much easier it would be if all the bank records were automatically slurped up and reconciled automatically. So maybe there is some value in having some software.

I agree - what we don't really like in actual fact is them having us by the balls on a pay forever rather locked in model!
Plus I made a £700 mistake in VAT man's favour last month on my olde excel VAT calcs - this may well still be possible newfangled if an internal savings transfer thinks its vat rated??? Hope Xero can learn that it is NOT. So many questions - so few answers

Edited by Ken Figenus on Tuesday 30th April 16:14

[Eric Mc]

HMRC has always allowed a Use of Home as Office charge. So, if you are operating your business from home, you can legitimately make that claim. The claim is based on a reasonable proportion of domestic light/heat/council tax/water charges/home insurance/repairs etc - usually based on number of habitable rooms in the house.

If broadband is now being looked on as "!an essential utility", then the broadband charge should be included as part of the Use of Home as Office calculation.

Alternatively, you can still keep it as a separate charge and allocate the business proportion to the company accounts as a bona fide business cost.

HMRC would not contend that.

How does Xero handle that type of stuff?

[Pit Pony]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

Eric Mc said:

As long as your 12 monthly turnover remains below £85,000 you do not have to apply for anything. Just continue to submit your VAT returns the old fashioned way.

Thanks for the clarification, Eric.

I am jumping off the flat rate scheme, having done some calculations. My simple spreadsheet which gave me box 6 and box 1 figures will need a tweek.
I'll be doing my last flat rate submission tonight.

Below 85k at present.

[red_slr]

Well we have done our first MTD Vat return. It worked, after many, many hours of d*cking about with Sage.
The second we are out of contract we are done with them, total waste of time and money.

[MrJuice]

I've been putting off opening this thread because mtd annoys me a lot. Vat return due tonight at midnight. I always take things to the wire

I thought I'd have to register for some software but didn't realise the whole process takes as long as it does. Good to hear than 03/19 return can still be done on old rules

Question: is there any cheap single user bridging software around?

[MrJuice]

Just spoke to my accountant who can provide QuickBooks for £6/month for two years. It's the full package so will go up to £28 after two years. Mine is a simple business so could probably get by on the cheapest package which I'll change to when the time comes

Happy enough with that for now

[Clockwork Cupcake]

MrJuice said:

Question: is there any cheap single user bridging software around?

Someone posted a link earlier in the thread. Free for the first year, then £1pcm by the look of it.

[MrJuice]

I went through the whole thread but didn't see it

Never mind. £6/month on quick books is okay

[Terminator X]

I'm not on a flat rate scheme and on the assumption that VAT calcs are coming straight from my accounts package presumably it is too dumb to work out VAT paid out (usually purchases through expenses rather than the business account) less VAT taken in so I'll pay over the odds every Quarter and have to claim back? Great cashflow for HMRC ...

TX.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

MrJuice said:

I went through the whole thread but didn't see it

Never mind. £6/month on quick books is okay

I was sure something had been mentioned, so skimmed back.

It was this post:

martnewts said:

There is free bridging software available that can be used to submit under MTD.

I have used this https://vitaltax.uk/ no connection to the provider just something I found that seems to work

[akirk]

Just to report back on our progress...

We started in October 2018 - signed up for the API to write our own link from our internal (in-house) software to HMRC
Very helpful bunch of people at HMRC in the team looking after developers
We were ready for submission on the pilot at the end of VAT QTR DEC-2018 but they had screwed up our sign up for the pilot, so we did that manually...
Ready and signed up properly for end of VAT QTR MAR-2019 - eventually paid it last week - through our API link to MTD VAT

thoughts:
- helpful people
- hard to get hold of, and they do not reply to help desk questions within the specified 2 days
- the API and the requirements are changing continually - they are good at communicating and highlighting the changes - but this is an API which is in no way ready for mass-use - that will be okay then!
- for an API which simply requires validation and then the submission of max 9 numbers and a period - it is phenomenally over-complicated and extremely badly documented...
- their code is not complete yet - e.g. we were getting back an error code of 503 (meaning that their server didn't exist!) when it should have been 412 - which has a useful meaning
- their helpdesk can't see the trace of interaction with your account so are helping blind!

all in all - amazing that it actually seems to be working at all - I guess we will know later this year how successful it has been, but probably one of the worst APIs we have coded with...

[MrJuice]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

DOH! I remember now. I did see that but you mentioned £1/month so I didn't make the connection

Obviously £0 is better than £1 but the mention of £1 threw me

Thank you for taking the time to find the post