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Client Overview

VAT Return Checks

Dext Precision provides a set of checks that have been designed to quickly spot tax issues with respect to transaction data over a given filing period.

What you need to know:

  • Our VAT Return Checks are currently available for Xero clients only.
  • These checks are called Tax Return Checks in regions outside the UK.
  • We are working on building out functionality for other regions – so far we’ve added support for the South African 15% Two-Monthly VAT Scheme, and we have other regions also in development.

Settings to get started

Connect your HMRC Agent Account to get the most value out of these checks.

The first thing you need to do is check your starting month for your VAT Returns is set up in Precision correctly. This is because Xero doesn’t tell Precision what the VAT Period is.

Go to your client overview page then go to Tax – VAT Return Checks then click on Adjust Settings

To set this up click ‘Adjust Settings’ at the top of the VAT Checks Page or can also go to the Client Tax and Control Accounts in ‘Configuration’ settings for each client.

VAT Checks Options

There are 2 options to use our VAT Checks.

Option 1: Using our VAT Checks which can be run at any point during the quarter to review VAT to date. Can make this part of your monthly review to advise your clients on current liability or get your questions answered around the data quality.

Option 2: Create a Repeating Workflow, set ‘By Event’ which will be VAT Return Period. This will create a Workflow Template that repeats for the relevant VAT quarter, assigned to a team member and clients. This workflow will include the VAT checks below to form a list of tasks to complete to prepare the VAT Return for submission.

Option 1 – Using VAT Checks

To access the VAT Return Checks you will need to click into one of your clients from the Client List.

Go to Client Overview >Tax >VAT Return Checks

Simply enter in the date range and click Recalculate to generate the checks for that period/s. Expanding each check allows you to see and review the transactions, with a link directly to Xero to sort them out.

Option 2 – Repeating Workflow

Creating a Repeating Workflow is how you manage each of your clients VAT return reviews by assigning the VAT checks to a team member to work through to complete all tasks related to preparing a VAT Return for submission to HMRC. These workflows will enter the workflow list once the VAT period has ended. Unlike Option 1 where you can review the transactions anytime during the period to see progress. The checks are the same for both options.

You will first need to Create a Workflow Template then set up a Repeating Workflow.

VAT Checks List

Below is a list of all the VAT Checks and how to use them.

Scheme Thresholds (UK Only)

This check finds looks at annual and quarterly (where applicable) Taxable Turnover and makes sure that they are within the limits of the selected VAT scheme as defined by HMRC . You’ll see a warning if the limits are within 10%, and an error if turnover has exceeded the limits.

Estimated VAT (UK Only)

Dext Precision keeps a running estimate of VAT accrued (or due to be reclaimed) for the current period, it handles Cash, Accrual and Flat Rate schemes.

Important to Note: sometimes we can’t get the contact for clients on the Cash Scheme as the journals table shows payment date it doesn’t automatically include the contact so sometimes we can show it and other times we can’t due to the API limitation.

Opening the card reveals further details, with a filter to display in HMRC VAT Return format, grouped by Vat “Box” Figures, or grouped by Tax Rate. You can also filter by current period or late claims.

If connected to HMRC, we are able to use actuals, which makes this estimation much more reliable.

Note: Our VAT Checks work best when Dext Precision is connected with HMRC – without this connection, we can’t know when payments have been made or detect any late claims.  Please see our integrations section for more information.

Box 1 to Box 6 Comparison (UK Only)

This check examines your transactions to provide a Box 1 to Box 6 percentage for the current VAT Return. Opening the card for further detail reveals previous periods and their respective Box 1 and Box 6 figures, with their percentage differences.

If the percentage is not as expected, check the Tax Review by Code check for more insights on what other tax rates may have been used in the period.

HMRC Status (UK Only)

If you have connected to HMRC, our HMRC Status section provides details on the selected VAT period as well as upcoming dates for filing and payment status.

VAT Control Account (UK Only)

If the HMRC integration is enabled, we can now reconcile the VAT Control Account in Xero against the current HMRC liabilities, plus any accrued VAT and future VAT (if on the Cash scheme), to ensure this account balances. The balance is also available at a glance in the Deadlines Dashboard.

Unreconciled Transactions

This uses the same logic as the Unreconciled Transactions insight to find unreconciled transactions for the date range you have supplied.

Revenue Account Review

This check finds transactions that don’t have an Account Class of REVENUE, but have been assigned as revenue Tax Type of OUTPUT2, RROUTPUT or ZERORATEDOUTPUT.

Expense Account Review

This check finds expense transactions that have been assigned a Tax Type of INPUT2 (20% VAT on Expenses), with accounts that have Reporting Codes of EXP.ADM.ENT (Entertainment), EXP.ADM.PRI (Printing & Postage) or EXP.ADM.TRA (Travel International).

Balance Sheet Review

This check finds ASSET, LIABILITY or EQUITY type transactions with a non-zero tax value, excluding Fixed Assets (account type FIXED) and Reporting Codes of LIA.CUR.ACC (income in advance) or ASS.CUR.REC.PRE (prepayments).

Tax Review by Code

The below checks (20% VAT Review, Zero-Rated Review and No-VAT Review) have all been combined into one Tax Review by Code Check card, which splits out all transactions in the period by the tax code applied. You can set a minimum value threshold against this Check.

20% VAT Review

This check finds transactions with a tax type of either 20% VAT on Income or 20% VAT on Expenses with a net value above the minimum amount set by you in the configuration for this check.

Zero-Rated Review

This check finds transactions with a tax type of ZERORATEDINPUT with a net value above the minimum amount set by you in the report header (Zero Rated Min). The idea here is to ensure the client is claiming back VAT on as many high value items as possible.

No-VAT Review

This check finds transactions with a tax type of NONE with a net value above the minimum amount set by you in the report header (No VAT Min).

Multi-coded Contacts

The same as the Multi-Coded Contacts insight, but looking at contacts that have transactions in the reporting period specified.

Transactions Without Attachments

This check finds transactions that are lacking attachments (useful from a VAT evidence point of view), with a net value above the minimum amount set by you in the popup configuration (click the little cog beside the title to set the minimum value). Clicking the card shows the list of transactions, which you can filter by Revenue or Expense.

Transactions With Attachments

This check allows you to review transactions that do have attachments, with a net value above the minimum amount set by you in the popup configuration (click the little cog beside the title to set the minimum value). Clicking the card shows the list of transactions, which you can filter by Revenue or Expense. Clicking the plus beside the Contact Name in a transaction row will expand to show a list of attachments relating to that transaction. For each attachment listed, you can click “View Attachment” which will open the attachment in another browser tab, or download it, depending on the file type:

Next Steps:

Have a review of our VAT Return Guide on how to use these VAT checks in a workflow.