The MTD for VAT insight gives you a practice-wide view of VAT return obligations, filing status, and payment data for all your clients. Unlike other table insights, each row is a VAT return period — a client with multiple outstanding periods will appear on multiple rows.

To access it, select Insights in the left navigation, then select MTD for VAT.

The MTD for VAT insight is available on the Practice Advanced plan. No Data Health & Insights add-on is required.

Practice Admins and Client Admins can access this insight by default. Standard users need the Access Practice Insights permission enabled in their colleague privileges — check Roles and permissions in Dext.

Admin users see all clients. Standard users see only clients they've been granted access to.

The MTD for VAT insight organises data into four column groups.

General covers client identifiers, MTD connection status, annual turnover, and control account imbalance.

VAT Scheme shows each client's scheme type, filing period length, and tax rate.

Return Filing covers the period start and end dates, filing due date, filed date, and filing status — either Filed or Open.

Payments shows the payment type, total amount, outstanding balance, and payment due date.

Each row also includes 2 links: Return Checks opens the compliance check view for that VAT return, and a direct link to the client's account in Xero or QuickBooks Online, where available.

Dext includes a pre-built MTD VAT Liabilities report based on this insight. It's available under Custom in the Insights navigation and gives you a ready-made view for managing VAT liabilities across your clients. You can use it as-is or save a modified version for your practice.

For more on creating and managing custom reports, check Using the Custom insight.

The MTD for VAT insight has spreadsheet-like functionality. You can customise it to show exactly what you need using columns, filters, and row groups.

Columns — select the three-dot menu at the top of any column to sort, pin, autosize, group by, or reset columns. Select Choose Columns to show or hide specific columns.

Filters — each column has a filter icon for filtering by that column's values. For example, filter by Filing Status to show only returns with an Open status.

Row groups — drag any column into the grouping area at the top of the table to group rows by that value. For example, drag Account Assignee into the grouping area to view VAT obligations grouped by team member.

To save your current table configuration — columns, filters, and groupings — select Save. Give the report a name and choose whether to keep it private or share it with your team. Saved reports appear under Custom in the Insights navigation.

To export the current view, select Export. The table downloads as an Excel file.