What is a VAT Return in Ireland? A Standard VAT return in Ireland is the regular periodic declaration filed by VAT-registered businesses to report their VAT liability to the Revenue Commissioners. It details the total VAT charged on sales (output VAT) and the VAT paid on purchases (input VAT) during the VAT period, allowing the calculation of the net VAT amount payable to or refundable from Revenue.
The standard VAT return is typically filed every two months (bi-monthly), although some businesses may file quarterly or monthly depending on turnover or specific circumstances. It must be submitted electronically via the Revenue Online Service (ROS).
A VAT returns also reports details of
- Intra-EU goods and service transaction values
- Postponed VAT Accounting values
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To know about Postponed VAT Accounting, click here.
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To generate the VAT returns, complete the following steps.
1. Click General Ledger > VAT Returns.
2. The VAT Return page appears. Click New.
3. The New VAT Return window appears. Specify the period until which you want to generate the VAT return and click OK.
4. The Confirmation Message window appears. Read the message carefully and click Proceed, if you are happy with the outcome.
Note: You cannot run your next VAT Return until the previous one is closed.
Important - If you are generating your first VAT return in the system it will contain all transactions ever created up to the end of the VAT period selected as they have never been returned before on the system. If you have previous transactions already returned manually or through a third party and wish to avoid this happening for the period you are running it is best to create a dummy return for the month prior to isolate the historic data.. This means when running the following VAT return it will only contain the transactions for that period.
If it is not allowing you to create a VAT Return, please ensure you are within the General ledger, VAT Return, and New. If you have gone to Reports, VAT Return, this is a report for previously run VAT Returns and you cannot create a new VAT Return here.
5. The VAT returns and other values are generated
If you notice discrepancies in your VAT return figures, there are several steps you can take to resolve this issue. First, identify whether any transactions were added after the VAT return was generated. If so, you may need to remove those additional transactions. If the discrepancy arises from the VAT basis, such as cash versus accrual basis, you should review your invoice dates and VAT rates. Note that handling credit notes and negative receipts may also affect reporting and should be verified.
Understanding and Resolving VAT Report Discrepancies
When experiencing discrepancies in VAT Return Report figures, it's important to examine all potential causes. Check the detailed views and dropdown options on your VAT report interface to ensure all data is accounted for. If specific figures are missing, like the E2 figure, cross-reference purchase invoices that might affect these amounts. Additionally, discrepancies between VAT reports and sales invoices could be due to specific settings, such as the 'Outstanding Only' option in the Sales Invoice & Credit Notes report. Ensure this setting is unticked to match the sales figures correctly.
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6. Now, you have the following options on the VAT Return window:
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- To save the data and have it displayed as a period-wise VAT return record on the VAT Return page, click Save. If more transactions generate more VAT later, you can remove this record and generate the updated VAT returns later.
- To view the VAT details in the form of the VAT Details report, click Print.
- If you are satisfied no more VAT returns will be added to the one you generated, you may tick Closed on the VAT Return window. This means that you are no longer allowed to update the VAT returns for the period you generated. We advise you to use this option carefully.
- Once you run and save a VAT Return on BrightBooks, no more transactions dated within the VAT Return dates will be added to this VAT Return if posted after running the VAT Return. If you notice your figures have changed within a VAT Return you have saved, ensure the VAT Return was not deleted and re-run on your account.
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Please note, if a posting is not included on a VAT Return, there are a couple of key points that need to be double-checked:
- Ensure the Customer and/or Supplier has the correct Country selected.
- Ensure the VAT Rates are correctly set up.
- Ensure the VAT Basis is correctly set up.
Additional Options
To remove a VAT return record, save the VAT returns first and then, on the VAT Return page, click the 'drop-down' icon and then click Delete. We only recommend deleting a VAT Return if it has not been submitted yet.
For details on Supplementary VAT Returns click here.