I recently submitted a VAT return through the software which included a purchase that I had lost the receipt for. I had entered the purchase date and amount (no VAT) as I knew the overall amount and it was a genuine purchase.
Shortly after submitting the VAT return, I fount the missing receipt, which had a slightly different date but more importantly it had VAT for me to reclaim.
I have rolled back the VAT return,to allow me to amend the purchase invoice to the correct amounts and dates. I then repeated the VAT return, however this return has failed with the message ‘‘By ChRIS : A return has already been received for this period 2019-08’’.
The VAT for this failed attempt is now correct, and I hoped that the issue would resolve itself, but this failed, and the upcoming period only shows the VAT for that period and not the adjustment I just made.
It’s generally more trouble than it’s worth trying to amend a VAT return after submission unless the discrepancy is hundreds or thousands of pounds of VAT and you’ll have serious cash flow issues if you have to delay claiming. Better would be to leave the incorrect purchase in place in QuickFile but then credit note it and create a replacement with the correct details (including the correct date). QuickFile will automatically include both the credit and the correcting purchase in your next return, meaning you do get to reclaim the vat eventually, just a quarter later than you could have done.
As for how to fix things up now, I’d revert your change so the purchase matches what you submitted, then save your QuickFile vat return again without submitting it online, so your QuickFile record lines up with what HMRC thinks you’ve submitted. Once the return is showing as “saved” on QuickFile (so the no-VAT purchase is locked), then do the credit note and replacement purchase, with appropriate notes explaining what happened. Next time you do a return it will adjust automatically.
Thanks for your solution.
One question - how do I just ‘save’ the VAT return? I can only see the option to submit the return.
I forgot to mention before, but I am not registered for MTD due to being below the VAT threshold.
If you untick the “submit online” box at the bottom of the return preparation form then the “submit” button will just save the return in QuickFile without sending it to HMRC.