Annual VAT Accounting - MTD

Is it just me?

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All the annual VAT returns that we filed in February 2020 for the first time via Quickbooks Online were mysteriously invisible to HMRC

We could see them all through the Agent's account, confirmed submission dates, but HMRC denied their existence and raised assessments for non-filing

I lodged complaints, sent screenshots, asked for debt recovery to be called off and I've yet to receive a sensible reply

Apparently the complaints were passed on to the "Making Tax Digital Live Service Issues Team" to investigate and it appears that the return figures have now been fed into the system, not that anybody has contacted me to tell me that

I was hoping that would be the end of it, but no I've just found out that another return for the year ended March 2020, submitted last month has suffered the same fate. I've tried speaking to the Annual Accounting Unit, but I'd get more sense out of Screwfix customer services if I asked them about it

This return was submitted via Sage 50c though not Quickbooks Online, is it just me or does HMRC have a fundamental system error in processing annual returns under MTD?

 

 

Replies (7)

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By Matrix
29th Jun 2020 17:20

You had another year to sign up for MTD. Would be interested to know what the problem is for when I sign up clients next year. How odd.

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Replying to Matrix:
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By Matrix
30th Jun 2020 19:13

No one else seems to have replied.

However a client has just received a reminder to register for MTD although the first return isn’t due until Feb 2021. I will register them so they don’t get any more reminders.

It looks like the annual VAT is a bit of a mess. Did you manage to resolve?

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Replying to Matrix:
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By Paul Crowley
01st Jul 2020 05:35

Probably no replies as annual is probably rare.
Do not have one and no clients have ever raised the subject. I never will.

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Replying to Matrix:
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By dul50n
01st Jul 2020 12:08

I can't see any quick resolution to this, HMRC are "aware of issues"

Fortunately the nature of the beast means they've got a year to sort it out before it becomes a problem again, which for HMRC probably isn't long enough, but for now it's a right PITA

On top of that they seem to struggle with administering requests to change installment amounts. A number of our clients had to close their doors due to lockdown and we requested a reduction of the monthly direct debit to nil as of April, but HMRC are still taking money, unauthorised, from their bank accounts. Our clients can and have got it back under the direct debit guarantee, but they shouldn't have to do that

In my experience the Annual Accounting Unit has displayed complete ineffectiveness at every stage from initial application to ongoing administration. We chose to move clients to annual accounting to give us flexibility in processing data for MTD purposes which has worked well, but these administrative difficulties have created a completely new set of problems that we couldn't possibly foresee. I know HMRC are generally poor performers, but they've really made poor performance a fine art in the Annual Accounting Unit

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Replying to dul50n:
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By Matrix
01st Jul 2020 12:53

But if you switched them to annual then wouldn’t that have delayed the registration for MTD?

I am annoyed they are sending reminders to clients.

I think clients had to cancel the DD, it was a right pain. I have left it to them.

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Replying to Matrix:
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By dul50n
01st Jul 2020 14:37

For various reasons, decisions to switch to Annual Accounting were made late in the day, but yes had we moved them to annual before 1st April 2019 we could have delayed MTD

In terms of processing it made little difference, it's just the dogs dinner that the Annual Accounting Unit have made of things at the end of the year that's sunk our battleship

Annual accounting periods starting 1st April 2019 are due for filing under MTD two months after the chosen period end unless one of the special cases applied

Clients did cancel DD's at the bank as per HMRC guidance, but for Annual Accounting it turns out to be some sort of rolling agreement that resurrects itself every month and they just keep taking the money

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By Paul Crowley
01st Jul 2020 13:32

How many annual VAT schemes do other responders have?

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