Making Tax Digital (importing via CSV)

Hi Everyone, im a bit confused with the new Making Tax Digital Regulations coming in over the next couple of years, can i please ask if anyone may know if this will be legal,

i currently sell online and all my orders automatically are pulled into my order management system (Non API) which does things i need it to do which quickfile cannot (i have orders coming in from eBay, Amazon, and our own website. Other than ebay, amazon and our website i cannot currently automatically bring the sales into quickfile which is why its easier to continue using our order managment software where everything is in one place and manually import them all by CSV), i have just started using quickfile and intend to weekly export my sales orders (Invoices) (which log all the needed information customer, vat ect ect.) from this software (CSV) and import it directly into quickfile, once imported i will then tag the sales so they can clearly be indentified as sales,

my bank records will be pulled in directly from the bank into quickfile,

will this be a legal way to log my accounts and file my VAT Returns / Tax Returns from 2020 onwards (eventually when its the only way)

thank you

Hi @stephenlawes

Personally, I can’t see any issues with this providing the details on QuickFile accurately reflect your income and expenditure.

You could however use the technique outlined here, where you bulk enter your sales rather than account for them on a client-by-client basis.

The important thing is to have a copy of the original data - in this case, your order management system should be able to cover this as I’m assuming this generates the invoices for your customers?

Thats great thank you, it does indeed generate the invoices, would it be acceptable to do what you suggest if the VAT amounts are not a straight forward 20% (as some orders go outside the EU) can i just input the exact vat total rather than quickfile calulating it for me, thank you

The VAT values can be overridden to an extent. However, I would check with an accountant to ensure this is recorded correctly.

There are accountants on this forum (they’re independent of QuickFile), who may be able to assist you with this.

Thats great thank you, hopefully one maybe able to assist, thank you for your help with this

Hi, I was looking into this the other day. The current VAT guidance (see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-notice-70022-making-tax-digital-for-vat/vat-notice-70022-making-tax-digital-for-vat) is that from April 2020 any links between software systems have to be digital. This excludes manual keying and “cut and paste”, however an import / export routine via csv or XML is specifically allowed (see paragraph 3.2.1 Digital Links). Therefore at face value your current system is fine.

James, Beach Accountancy

Yes, because uploading a csv will result in more accurate record keeping than copy and paste, obviously. Nobody could ever upload a csv file twice or, perhaps, transfer the wrong csv file. Bunch of muppets. The fact that they distort the definition of ‘digital’ and use terms like ‘digital journey’ just screams of B Ark technical incompetence. Actually, it screams of hidden agenda but I’m too naive to know what it is.

Maybe we’ll all be wiped out by a dirty telephone and won’t have to worry about it

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