SA MTD VAT Reporting overview

System Administrator > Administration > MTD VAT Reporting

Function acronym: SAAV

Use this function to review and submit Value Added Tax records in compliance with the Making Tax Digital (MTD) initiative. This initiative is regulated by the United Kingdom (UK) government department, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is the UK government department responsible for collecting Value Added Tax (VAT). On April 1, 2019, HMRC implemented the MTD initiative. Under this initiative, UK VAT-registered businesses whose taxable turnover exceeds the VAT registration threshold must keep their records digitally. They must submit their returns digitally to HRMC. Businesses with a taxable turnover under the threshold can voluntarily submit their records digitally.

HMRC requires that businesses submit a VAT return monthly or quarterly. Businesses that meet MTD standards must maintain digital records in functional compatible software. Such software must be a software, spreadsheets, or a combination thereof, that can connect to HMRC through an Application Programming Interface (API). VAT returns must be submitted to HMRC through the software communicating digitally through the HMRC API platform.

Note: If you use a third-party tax solution, such as Avalara's AvaTax or Sovos Global Tax Determination, VAT HMRC digital reporting is the responsibility of the third-party.

Note: Based on fraud prevention requirements established by HMRC, the required data is included in our API calls.

Operators must have the correct security in SA Operator Setup-Function Security to access the SA MTD VAT Reporting function. We recommend that you restrict access to this function to only those operators that work directly with VAT reporting.

This function has two uses:

To initiate the VAT authorization:
As part of setup process, you must use this function to initiate the authorization process. Clicking the Authorization button connects you to a specific HMRC web page. In the HMRC web page titled, "Authority to interact with HMRC on your behalf," you grant authority for the Distribution SX.e application to connect to the HMRC system and ensure a valid authorization exists. You complete the authorization process one time. Reauthorization is not required unless the current authorization expires or is revoked. An access token is created and stored in the HMRC system, and is used when you perform VAT digital reporting. The token is good for four hours. A refresh token is also created. The refresh token is used to obtain a new access token after the current one expires. If access has not been revoked after 18 months, the access token can no longer be refreshed. A new authorization must be obtained. See the online documentation for instructions for setting up VAT HMRC digital reporting.
To record VAT digital tax and submit:
As part of VAT digital tax data record keeping, you can review and submit VAT records from this function. You cannot make changes to the data in this function. This function communicates with the HMRC through HMRC's API to send and receive information about past, current, and future VAT reporting periods. For the current VAT period, you can collect the VAT data, review what must be reported, and then digitally file the VAT information directly to HMRC. The review and submittal is performed from one of the four tabs: Return, Transactions, Payments, or Liability.

Note: If you receive a timeout error when drilling into a reporting period, you can activate batch call processing for the reporting period return process.

When you select Use Advanced Polling Interface Logic for Designated Service Interface Calls in SA Administrator Options-System-General, you can select the SAAV VAT Reporting Period Return - saavgetsxvatdata service interface call from the Available Advanced Polling Calls list. With this service interface call selected, when you drill down into an open VAT reporting period in SA MTD VAT Reporting, a batch process is initiated that runs outside of the normal Service Interface calls which must complete within a system timeout limitation of 1 minute. Batch call processing allows the reporting values calculation process to complete without timeout errors.