Review your VAT return

Nothing goes to HMRC until you have looked at the return and chosen to file it. Reviewing is worth a few minutes - you are checking real figures, not estimates.

Open the return

1. Go to VAT in the top navigation.
2. Choose the period you want under Period.

The return opens on the Preview tab: the nine boxes with the period's dates, plus a Payments to HMRC card showing the Payment Due (or Refund Due) amount and date. The sidebar shows the VAT period dates, the File by and Pay by deadlines, and the Calculation details.

Drill into the figures

Switch to the Full Report tab to see every transaction behind the boxes:

• Sales lines, with their Box 1 (VAT) and Box 6 (Net) amounts.
• Purchases lines, with their Box 4 (VAT) and Box 7 (Net) amounts.

Invoice, expense, and bill lines link straight to the underlying record, so you can open anything that looks off.

Fix something before filing

Correct the source record - edit the invoice, expense, bill, or bank explanation - and the return recalculates the affected boxes automatically. If a figure still is not what you expect, see Why my figures look different and How your VAT return is calculated.

When everything looks right, you are ready to submit the return to HMRC.