Online VAT account

Hi, Is there a way to view the VAT account like a bank statement instead of split into Payment history/amounts owed and past returns. I have an item that appeared as interest 1 week ago but we had no back up for this now there has been a change to say it is a VAT error but I can't follow any audit trail to see why it's changed. The tax specialist is no help whatsoever and we haven't got any workings or notifications to show why this amount is on the account? Due to HMRC delays we only have 2 weeks left to appeal and we need to know what we are actually due. If anything? Hoping you can help.

The VAT account layout is terrible from an accounting perspective. You can call Debt Mgmt and ask them to send you a detailed statement in the post, but that might take a week to get to you, leaving it tight for your appeal. You may have to appeal on the basis you HMRC have failed to explain and detail what the mystery figures are actually for. Have you called and spoken with Debt Mgmt already to see what this transaction might relate to? Debt Mgmt will have a fuller access to your VAT payments/liabilities than the normal VAT helpline, so you may be able to get this resolved over the phone. The number to call is 0300 200 3831.

Hi,

You will need to contact our VAT team so that we can review your account and investigate this charge of interest:

VAT: general enquiries

Thank you.

Hi, but my point is should it not be clear from the online account and also should we not get an explanation before the interest appears there? It is as a result of an assessment but we are disputing both assessments and we cannot tell which one the interest relates to? It is not a debt as such and as a result of me not being able to find the total due/payable on the account, we have now just been repaid £280k by HMRC in error. Can the online account not be set to up be viewed as a normal bank account, then this issue may not have ended up in an error payment from HMRC?

Just looking for an answer to the above, this whole situation has now got worse and we repaid the wrong payment to HMRC but they have now held it off our next repayment and I can't tell why from the online account. There is no debt and our Tax Specialist can't explain anything to us. So my questions remains can we please view the VAT account like a bank statement as currently there is no way of understanding the chain of events.

Hi Fay B,
This would depend on the software that you are using as to what you are able to view alternatively if you call the helpline they should be able to got through any debits and credits that are on your VAT account. Telephone Number 0300 200 3700.
 

We have accessed the online account through various browsers? What software would you recommend? We have no problem logging into our HMRC VAT account but there are no options to see a statement.

Surely our dedicated Tax Specialist or CCM should be able to help? Why would we need to call the helpline?

Hi Fay,
We cannot recommend which software but here is the list of approved providers:
Find software that's compatible with Making Tax Digital for VAT.
Thank you.

I'm sorry if I'm not making myself clear it's not the making tax digital that's the issue! Its how the online account shows up when you log into your online VAT account, there is nt option to see the transactions in a bank statement format, this is not anything to do with MTD software it is to do with the VAT online account. Even the HMRC Tax Specialist can't explain the entries. As I have said before they can't show me how interest was calculated on an assessment or explain why the client was repaid £280k in error, why would the MTD software have any bearing on this? HMRC assessments are raised by HMRC not uploaded by the business, so I say again this has nothing to do with MTD software!! To add insult to injury we repaid this amount and HMRC can't find it and have now withheld it from a return - is there a particular section or HMRC Admin that specialises on this and can reply.

Hi,
We apologise but in the previous question you asked which software would we recomend.
Unfortunately without checking the account to see what has happened we cannot give a definitive answer and another admin would not be able to access your record.  
If this is regarding assessments, interest and and incorrect repayment the helpline will be able to expidite this for you to get the matter resolved.
Thankyou.

I only asked that as HMRC said it was relevant and I thought I might be missing something. But I don't believe it is. To be clear my question is can HMRC advise if there is way to view the online account as a normal bank statement or look at how the information is set out on the online account to make it more helpful? At the moment there is no running balance or clear audit trail of the ins and outs you can't see the balance or how interest is calculated. This case demonstrates the issues but the question is a general one so I don't believe the helpline could help. I'm not sure how else to say this ?

Fay The agent (or client) government gateway, it only has one format/layout for showing what has been paid, what is owed and penalties/interest. The view you have of the VAT account is the only view of the VAT account. Not sure if this forum can really help, you seem to be asking why you cannot view your VAT account like you can a bank statement, showing debits and credits, that is not something HMRC Forum Admins can really deal with as you are asking about the fundamental user interface that HMRC have chosen to display information to users. I can say, from experience, that there have been many errors and glitches on the VAT account page for many of my clients, the user interface is terrible, the calculation of interest and penalties often seems random, and sometimes it is, the only way I have been able to resolve these is to call debt management and work through the history of the client.....for example, return filed was £x, filed on (date), payment made on (date), payment was late by say 2 days, penalty should be Nil (assuming it is appealed), interest should be calculated using HMRC published interest rates on daily basis, etc. I've had clients where HMRC shows no payment received despite client paying on time/having proof of payment, showing two payments received even though only one has been made, I've had clients pay late and the interest charges have been thousands of pounds for 2-3 days on a debt of £2,000 (ie, interest many times higher than the actual VAT debt) and I've had clients receive debt collection letters where they have no debts and their VAT account is up-yto-date/nothing due. If you are a tax agent, you could register/join the "agent" forum here and post your query as a tax agent and asking about the general format/layout of the user interface.

Thanks Jay, I asked in the Agent forum first but they sent me here, I guess I will admit defeat on this one, sorry you seem to be getting as many issues as I am, at least I know it's not just me. You would think there may be somewhere we could suggest they look at it.

Hi Fay Bryant,
Unfortunately there is not a setting change that you can use to amend how the business tax account shows the account information.
If you wish to provide feedback on the online service you can contact the team who manage the site using the get help with this page link towards the bottom of the sign in screen:
HMRC online services: sign in or set up an account
Thankyou

Thank you Admin 8 I will do that. Good to know I'm not missing something that's already available. Fay

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