QBO won't allow me to "unfile" my last GST return, it says there is a payment attached, there isn't. It was a refund. The refund hasn't been recorded. Any suggestions?

Hello asknrlk,

I’m sorry you are facing an issue with your GST return, but I’m glad you reached out to the community so we can help!

In order to unfile a sales tax return inside your QuickBooks Online Company File, you will want to reach out to your Pro Advisor such as myself, and they will be able to unfile your tax filing for you.

If you are currently not partnered with a ProAdvisor, we can reach out to QuickBooks Online Customer Support and they will be able to unfile your tax filing for you.

Before you unfile this filling we will want to do the following:

1. Delete the payment linked to this filing by selecting the highlighted drop-down arrow and select “View Payment”, then deleting the payment from your payments list. (The same method to remove a refund as well)

2.Export your exception reports by selecting the reports tab, and entering Exception in the search bar. Ensure your report is set to “All Dates” and save the downloaded file in a special folder of your choice.

PLEASE NOTE: If you have filings after the filing in question that needs to be deleted, those will need to be unfiled as well to reach the desired filing that needs correcting.

For example, if we have monthly filings and we need to unfile Jan. 2020 filing, we will need to unfile Sept. 2020 all the way up to our Jan. 2020 filing and then re-enter those filings.

To get in touch with QuickBooks Online Customer Support to unfile your filing, please reference their new call back feature that can be found right inside our QuickBooks Online:

https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-ca/intuit-account-settings/using-the-call-back-featur....

When you are ready to partner with a ProAdvisor you can find plenty of awesome ProAdvisors with the link down below:

https://quickbooks.intuit.com/ca/find-an-accountant/

I hope this helps! Have a great rest of the day.

Kindest Regards,

Lourdes Fernandez

Hi there asknrlk,

It's great that you're taking advantage of QuickBooks Online Accountant's exclusive un-file feature. This allows accountants and bookkeepers alike to un-file a sales tax return once it's been filed. Let me go over some options that should allow you to proceed with un-filing.

An important thing to note is that you're only able to un-file the most recent filing. If you're attempting to un-file a historic filing, QuickBooks will require you to un-file all filings in reverse date order first. You may also be receiving an error if you've already closed the books for the period you want to un-file. If this is the case, you can temporarily re-open the books so that you can un-file. Here's how to Edit your closed books.

The audit log may also prove to be a helpful resource in this situation. Your activities, who made changes, what changes were made, and when they made them are all found in the audit log. I suggest using the audit log to ensure that there wasn't a payment or refund recorded against the period. Here's how you can Use the audit log in QuickBooks Online.

Browser troubleshooting is another important step that you can take to eliminate the possibility of stored images and files causing this issue for you. Please try the steps below: 

• Clear your browser cache if you're using a browser

• Clear the app cache if you're using the QuickBooks Online app for Windows or Mac

• Try a browser if you're using the app

• Try a private browser window

• Try another browser type

• Make sure you're using a supported browser and system

• Reset your Internet or try on another computer or device

As @Lourdes-Fernandez suggested, if you're not a ProAdvisor you won't have the ability to un-file on your own. Use the steps suggested in the reply above to get in touch with a ProAdvisor who can assist you with this, or to get in touch with our support team who is also capable of doing this for you.

I know you'll have this sorted out in no time! Let me know if you have additional questions.

I am a pro advisor, this is still a problem in QBO. I am unable to unfile a GST return as it says there is a payment applied to it which just is not so.  Since I am the only one using the account, I can verify there are no payments applied to the GST return but QBO will still not allow me to undo the filing.

This isn't a cache issue, or a browser issue, it's a QBO GLITCH still not resolved!

Hi there sleepwell2013,

It's important that all your transactions be correctly entered for all your taxes to be correctly tracked. QuickBooks Online is a great tool able to help you keep track of taxes on transactions so you can mark them as filed. I can point you in the right direction for assistance.

If you're an accountant using QuickBooks Online Accountant, but you receive an error message while attempting to undo a filing, you'd need to reach out to the QuickBooks Online support team outside of the Community. They'll be able to verify the filing in your client's account in order to get it unfiled. You can reach them by following these steps:

Schedule a Callback or start a Chat: click (?)Help in the upper right > type and enter "Contact support" into the QB Assistant > click Contact Us > explain your situation > click Let's Talk > choose Get a callback or Start a Chat.

If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out here.

Were you able to find out how to fix this?  I contacted support as per the information above and they "unfiled" the return and my numbers got completely messed up and created an even bigger mess than the one I was trying to fix. 

Sadly, I was not able to fix on my own and had to get QBO to override and force and undo of the return. It did not seem to affect the balances, sorry to hear yours is in worse shape than it was.  The feature is so inflexible just like payroll... I miss desktop for those reasons. Add the fact that RBC and Scotia bank feeds are now a disaster in QBO it makes me doubt converting all the clients since some areas are still not great and others are a complete s.s.