VAT online returns – what, when and how

As of 1^st April 2012, the conditions for businesses required to submit VAT requirements online will be changed. As well as the businesses that currently submit online (those with an annual turnover of £100,000 or higher) any business earning less than £100,000 will also be required to submit their VAT returns online, as well as pay electronically.

Many companies will be using accounting software already to handle their business finances, but the new VAT conditions mean that as well as normal accounting processes, they will be required to repeat the process on HMRC’s website to comply with new VAT regulations.

Thankfully, certain accounting software has the ability to upload their VAT returns directly to the HMRC website without separate manual input, and payment is similarly simple. Both Sage Instant Accounts 2012 and Sage 50 Accounts 2012 have been designed to make the whole online VAT submission process easier, whatever the size of your business.

These Sage products are HMRC-accredited, and their VAT return processes have been tested to make sure they are compatible with being submitted directly to HMRC, without having to enter the information twice. This minimises the chance of subsequent mistakes/inconsistencies, and also eliminates the likelihood of a problem during the upload. Sage also runs an automatic check of the form before it reaches the submission gateway to prevent a form with incorrect information being submitted. Once the form has been submitted, Sage returns and stores an encrypted record of the return for the customer to hold on file, detailing the amounts submitted.

Sage has a range of market-leading accounts software which will equip your business for the VAT change, as well as streamlining your business’ financial processes. This range of Sage accounts software, which are fully compatible with the latest Windows 7 OS, are available in our shop with free delivery.

Share/Bookmark

Tags: accounting, featured, hero, Sage, SMBs, Windows 7