Tag Archive for: VAT

Boost Your Financial Awareness: Digitalise Your Bookkeeping for Making Tax Digital

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Prepare for Making Tax Digital Changes by digitalising your processes with the help of an expert bookkeeper.

If you’re a small business owner, sole trader or landlord, you’ve probably heard plenty of rumblings about the imminent and non-negotiable changes surrounding Making Tax Digital.

While, on the face of it, it does seem scary when words like “compliance” and “tax” are being wielded by HMRC, it doesn’t have to be.

In this blog post, our experts break down Making Tax Digital and what you need to do in order to be prepared for compliance when the time comes.

What is Making Tax Digital?

Despite the name, Making Tax Digital (or MTD) is not about tax. It’s about bookkeeping.

The government-led initiative centres on moving UK taxpayers’ records from spreadsheets and paper to a fully digitalised system. Introduced in April 2019, it has already gone through a few phases and currently applies to VAT-registered businesses. This is all set to change, however.

As of April 2026, MTD will be applied to Income Tax records for self-employed individuals and landlords with an income of over £50,000, which will require three key changes:

  1. Digital Record-Keeping: All transactions (income and outcome) must be kept digitally in an HMRC-approved software.
  2. Quarterly updates: Single annual returns are a thing of the past. Now, you must send quarterly updates on income and expenditure using an MTD-compliant software.
  3. Final Declaration: Once you’ve submitted all four quarterly updates in one year, you need to finalise your annualised income with a final declaration.

For those affected, MTD isn’t a tax change, but the mandating of digitalised bookkeeping using compliant software.

How a bookkeeper can help with MTD

No matter your threshold or when you’re affected, if you’re worried about the incoming changes to MTD for Income Tax, a bookkeeper can help.

The best way to keep your MTD experience stress-free is to get ahead of the changes by working with an expert bookkeeper to help make the transition to bookkeeping software.

Choosing the right software for you can be a lot to consider, but with Rosemary Bookkeeping, it doesn’t have to be hard. As accredited experts and approved partners with many leading MTD-compliant software like Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, FreeAgent and more, a Rosemary Bookkeeper can help you understand which software will be the best fit for you, get set up and transition to digital in time for the changes.

Or, to completely remove the stress from the equation, you can opt to outsource your bookkeeping to our experts completely, safe in the knowledge that we’ll ensure you stay compliant with MTD and other compliance requirements like AML, as well as keeping your books neat, correct and accounted for.

Want help with your bookkeeping?

If you’d benefit from expert advice, outsourcing and support in time to comply with the upcoming changes for MTD, contact your nearest Rosemary Bookkeeper today for a free, no-obligation quotation on a range of professional bookkeeping services.

Q3 2025 Bookkeeping Deadlines You Need to Know

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Dates for your financial diary for Q3 2025.

It’s an odd time of year. With people everywhere going on or returning from holidays, it may seem like the world stops and restarts again during Q3.

But there’s still a lot to be aware of when it comes to financial dates for your diary.

Luckily, the experts at Rosemary Bookkeeping are here to keep you on track.

In this blog post, we have compiled a list of dates and guidance on the essential bookkeeping dates and deadlines for Q3 2025.

July 2025

There are a few key deadlines to be aware of in July, particularly regarding employee benefits, including the all-important NIC and self-assessment payments.

  • 6th July 2025: All employers must submit forms for P11D and P11D(b) declaring any employee perks and benefits to HMRC (and provide copies for employees). This might include private healthcare, company cars, and gym memberships, for example.
  • 19th July 2025: Pay National Insurance Contributions on benefits for Class 1A NIC Payment
  • 31st July 2025: Deadline to make the second advance payment for Self-Assessment taxes for 2024/25

August 2025

There’s a bit of a break in August, without many deadlines to concern yourself with, which might make it the best month to take your holiday!

  • 3rd August 2025: If you have employees with a company car, this is the deadline for submitting a P46 for the quarter ending 5th You can either use the online service or fill in the postal form and return it to HMRC that way

 September 2025

September marks the deadline for your VAT returns, which are essential and must be done before the month’s end. While not a deadline, in mid-September, we can also expect the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to announce UK wage growth figures. This can be useful to be aware of, as it will impact state pension increases.

  • 30th September 2025: Q3 deadline for VAT returns (covering July-September 2025).

Need help with your bookkeeping?

With much more to keep track of throughout the year, you can take some of the stress out of your business operations by leaving your bookkeeping to the professionals.

Entrusting your bookkeeping to Rosemary means:

  • We keep track of your deadlines for you
  • We know when your Tax return needs to be filed by
  • We can keep track of your CIS payments

To learn more about our services and how Rosemary Bookkeeping can help you, call 0345 862 0072 or find your nearest Rosemary Bookkeeper today.

VAT changes for hospitality and tourism sector

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From 1 October 2021, a new reduced interim VAT rate of 12.5% will be introduced for hospitality, holiday accommodation/attractions and it will stay in place until 31 March 2022. It replaces the current temporary reduced rate of 5% for these sectors.

This reduction in VAT is intended to boost trade immediately for hotels, B&B’s, cafes, pubs, restaurants, cinemas, zoos and theme parks to name but a few.

The reduced rate of VAT will apply to:

  • Hot/cold food and non-alcoholic beverages for consumption on the business premises, for example, cafes, restaurants and pubs. Cold takeaway food continues to be subject to VAT at 20% or 0% under the existing rules.
  • Hot takeaway food and hot takeaway non-alcoholic drinks.
  • Sleeping accommodation such as hotels and similar establishments, holiday accommodation, caravan and tent pitch fees and associated families
  • Admissions to theatres, shows, fairs, concerts, museums, zoos, cinemas, exhibitions and similar cultural events and facilities. If a business charges admission fees that are currently exempt then that will take precedence and the admission will not qualify for the reduced rate. The reduced rate does not apply to admission to sporting events.

From 1 October 2021, all eligible businesses should apply the interim VAT rate of 12.5% on takings of supplies made of the goods and services listed above and on issued invoices until 31 March 2022.

Care will need to be taken where goods and services were supplied prior to 1 October 2021 but invoiced after 1 October 2021, and vice versa.

For example, in some circumstances, if a business has received a payment or deposit before 15 July 2020 but supplies the goods or services after 15 July 2020, then the business can choose to charge and account for VAT at 5% by issuing a credit note within 45 days of the rate change.

Flat Rate Scheme Changes
HMRC have updated the flat rate percentages to take account of the new reduced rate for VAT.
As of 15 July 2020 until 30 September 2021 the following sector rates apply:

  • Catering 4.5% (reduced from 12.5%)
  • Hotels 0% (reduced from 10.5%)
  • Pubs 1% (reduced from 6.5%)

From 1 October 2021 until 31 March 2022 the following sector rates apply:

  • Catering 8.5% (interim VAT rate)
  • Hotels 5.5% (interim VAT rate)
  • Pubs 4% (interim VAT rate)

Businesses that operate outside of the hospitality, holiday accommodation and attraction sectors may also be impacted by the VAT rate change if they make purchases from these sectors.

You’ll be able to apply the new VAT code in QuickBooks, Xero and other software after 1st October 2021.

Further detailed guidance can be found on the gov.uk websites HERE and HERE.

What can you claim back VAT on?

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Are you unsure of what you can reclaim VAT on? Here we’ve explained what you can and cannot reclaim any VAT on:

As a business, you can usually claim back any VAT you have paid on goods and services bought for business use, for which you have a valid VAT receipt. Remember, no receipt, no reclaim!

If the item you buy is also for personal use, you can only claim back a proportion of the VAT paid, only the actual business element of this item, mobile phone bills are a good example. You might use your mobile 60% for work and 40% for personal, in which case you can only claim back the VAT on the 60% of the purchase price and plan. You need to ensure that you have adequate records to support your VAT reclaim which shows how you calculated the business use percentage.

It’s usually a good idea to have separate phone bills for personal and business use, this way it’s easier when claiming back any VAT.

A Valid VAT Receipt

A valid VAT receipt includes the following:

  • Name, Address and VAT number of the supplier
  • Your name and address
  • The date
  • A description of the goods or services
  • The cost before VAT
  • The separate VAT amount
  • The total amount that contains the VAT.

Having said that, many VAT receipts are actually a shorter version, simply containing the total amount paid, the seller’s name and VAT number. To work out any VAT quickly this website is very helpful – http://www.vatcalculator.co.uk/ . This is the amount you can reclaim.

Can you claim the VAT back on items brought in the EU?

Do you buy goods from the EU?

You can’t claim for goods bought in EU countries, although you may be able to reclaim VAT paid via the electronic cross-border refund system. You can reclaim VAT on products and services bought during the refund period, plus VAT on goods imported to Britain during the same timescale.

You can’t claim for VAT that has been invoiced incorrectly, where VAT has been levied on sending goods to another member state or exported items outside the EU.

Things you cannot reclaim VAT for

You can’t reclaim VAT on insurance, salaries, PAYE, postage, bank interest or business entertainment. However, VAT on entertainment for overseas customers can on occasions be reclaimed when that entertainment is very basic.

You can’t claim for anything you’ve bought specifically for personal use, or the products and services your business uses from VAT-exempt supplies. Also items you buy under VAT second-hand margin schemes and business assets transferred to you as a going concern are also exempt from VAT reclaim.

Not registered for VAT?

When your business isn’t registered for VAT, you don’t have to charge VAT to your customers, however, you also can’t claim any VAT back. That’s why so many smaller businesses try to stay under the VAT radar, under the registration limit (the current threshold is £83,000 – see https://www.gov.uk/vat-registration/when-to-register for further details) . Charging VAT to a customer who isn’t registered for VAT means they’ll have to cover this cost as well.

What about VAT post-Brexit?

Domestic VAT rules remain the same following the end of the Brexit transition period, however, VAT rules relating to imports and exports have changed.

Prior to Brexit and during the transition period, the UK was part of a regime called the EU VAT Regime, which meant that a UK business didn’t have to register for VAT in each EU country. Now though, as of 1st January 2021 Great Britain now has to treat EU countries like they do countries outside of the EU.

It can get very confusing so we’d suggest taking a look at this article by Sage explaining this in a bit more detail.

Do you need support with the VAT system?

If you need VAT support, we’re here to help, find your nearest Rosemary Bookkeeper today.

VAT Updates for 2021

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The UK exited the EU VAT regime, Customs Union and Single Market from 1 January 2021. This means the loss of a range of compliance simplifications and the imposition of customs declarations, goods regulations, services and import VAT.

In this article HERE you can find an outline of the major changes affecting VAT treatment after the UK leaving the EU.

Here you can find the most recent guidance from the government; Import goods into the UK: step by step

If you import goods into Great Britain from outside the UK or from outside the EU to Northern Ireland you may have to pay import VAT on goods. For supplies of services from outside the UK you must account for VAT under the reverse charge procedure.

Guidance on Paying VAT on imports from outside the UK to Great Britain and from outside the EU to Northern Ireland

Export goods from the UK: step by step
Guidance on how and when you can apply zero-rated VAT to exported goods – Goods exported from the UK from 1 January 2021

TOMS – Tour Operators Margin Scheme 

If you supply digital services to private consumers you can read the guidance here – VAT rules for supplies of digital services to consumers 

CIS VAT changes

If you’re in the construction sector changes on VAT are coming on 1st March 2021.

VAT reverse charge technical guide HERE.

VAT is due when a VAT invoice is issued, or payment is received, whichever is earlier.

For invoices issued for specified supplies that become liable to the reverse charge, the VAT treatment for invoices with a tax point:

  • before 1 March 2021 – the normal VAT rules will apply and you should charge VAT at the appropriate rate on your supplies
  • on or after 1 March 2021 – the domestic reverse charge will apply