Welcome to the QuickBooks Community, @fairhallt1980.
I'm here to guide you on the important task you need to perform to successfully submit your first VAT return in QuickBooks Online (QBO).
First, make sure you're already registered for the Making Tax Digital (MTD) process. This is to keep your financial records in a digital form and can submit your VAT returns through QBO. Please ensure you've received an email confirmation from HMRC before attempting to submit a VAT return for MTD.
To learn more about MTD VAT submission, you can refer to this article for the complete checklist: MTD VAT Submission Checklist.
Next is to check your reports to make sure your VAT period and figures are correct. To do this, just select the drop-down arrow next to Prepare/Submit return to view the following reports:
Once done, you're now ready to submit your first VAT return directly to HMRC from QBO. Let me guide you how.
- Go to the Taxes menu.
- Select VAT.
- Choose Prepare return.
- Check the figures for each box, then elect Submit to HMRC.
- Select the I declare the information is true and complete box, followed by Submit to HMRC.
- While the submission is taking place, don't close page until you receive the receipt confirmation message.
- Click Done to close the window.
You'll receive an email confirmation once the return has been submitted to HMRC. It'll contain a receipt number along with information about your return.
Moreover, after the process above, you can mark your VAT return as filed in QuickBooks. Then, close the books to protect transactions entered in the quarter you just filed.
Additionally, you can also record a VAT payment or refund in QuickBooks. For the detailed steps kindly refer to this article: Record a VAT payment or refund.
Please let me know if you have other concerns. I'm just around to help.
