VAT refund

Hello there, @M for TF.

Good to see you here in the Community. I can help walk you through on how to record a VAT refund from HRMC in QuickBooks Online (QBO). 

To do this, please follow these steps below:

1. Go to Taxes and click on the arrow next to View Return for the specific VAT period you need.
2. Select Record Refund.
3. At the top, select the bank account the refund has gone into.
4. Make sure you've selected Refund under Payment Type.
5. Enter the Refund date and amount.
6. Add a memo if needed.
7. Click Save.

This will create a new transaction on your books. If you are adding transactions from your bank feed, you will need to record the VAT payment here first, then match it to the transactions on the Banking page.

This will get you on the right track. Feel free to leave a comment below if you have any other questions about recording VAT transactions in QBO. I'd be happy to answer them for you. 

I do not have that option as I have not yet filed a return on QBO.  The previous return (and subsequent refund) are from the period prior to QBO.

Is there a reason I cannot allocate it to the VAT Suspense account and start the VAT Suspense account with a balance BF?

I can provide you with the reason, M for TF.

You're unable to allocate this against the VAT Suspense account since the tax has not been accounted for in QuickBooks.

As what John C provided, you'll record it as a deposit and use an income account since this is considered as money in. Here's how:

1. Click the Plus sign (+) icon.
2. Select Bank Deposit.
3. Fill in the necessary fields under Add funds to this deposit.
4. Click Save and close. 

Once you're ready to file the form, I've got you the article on how to submit a VAT return. 

If you have more questions, you can drop it below. We'll check your post from time to time.

"fill in the necessary fields"....

That is the bit though isn't it.

What fields are filled in and which allocations are made?

I see no reason why I can't allocate the amount to the VAT Suspense account for a date prior to my QBO start and reconcile that account to zero from 1 August (the date we start QBO).

I'll attach a screenshot to guide you, M for TF.

We're unable to recommend any income account. The account used in my screenshot is manually created. I'll show you how to create one:

1. Click Accounting, then go to Chart of Accounts.
2. Click New.
3. Select the Account and Detail Types.
4. Enter a desired name.
5. Click Save and Close. 

As always, you can confer with your accountant on the best way to categorise the refund.

If there's anything else we can do, please let us know. 

Help I have a similar problem only that it is having recorded or vat refund once, I forgot two weeks later and recorded it again. ‘Record refund’ twice for the same vat refund. How do I undo one of these? Thank you.

Hi Dennis-22, thanks for joining this thread

You can locate and delete the duplicate VAT refund by selecting the Magnifying Glass > Advanced Search (Take me there) > Set the drop-down to VAT Payments > Account > Contains or Equals > Select the bank account (that the refund was received to) > Search.

On the list that appears, click onto the duplicate VAT Payment to open - from here it will show the Refund amount and Refund date. Select Delete on the footer of the screen to remove.