The VAT report
The sales side of your VAT return for one VAT period: everything the shop sold — online, at the till, at trade shows and on eBay — less refunds, with the margin-scheme workings for second-hand goods. It is not the whole return: it does not record the VAT on your supplier bills or other costs.
Choosing the period
It opens on your current VAT period, as set in Settings ▸ Payment ▸ Tax (monthly, one of the three quarterly staggers, or annual). Pick an earlier period from the list, or clear it and type any two dates. Days follow your shop's timezone, so a sale late on the last night of a period falls in the right one.
The boxes
| Box | What the report gives you |
|---|---|
| Box 1 | VAT charged on sales in the period, less VAT credited on refunds given in the period, plus the VAT on second-hand goods under the margin scheme. |
| Box 6 | Sales excluding VAT: standard, reduced, zero-rated and exempt sales and exports, net of VAT and refunds, plus second-hand goods at their full selling price less the VAT on the margin (HMRC's rule for margin-scheme sales). |
| Box 7 | Only the margin-scheme part: the full price you paid for second-hand goods bought in the period. Add every other purchase from your bookkeeping. |
| Box 4 | Not produced. VAT on supplier bills and other costs is not recorded in the shop — take it from your bookkeeping or accounting software. |
Gift cards are outside the scope of VAT when sold, so they are in none of the boxes.
How each sale is classed
Every line is classed on its own, from the rate, VAT class and scheme stored on it when it was sold, and from where it was sent: VAT at a rate, zero-rated, exempt, a zero-rated export, EU OSS, or the margin scheme. An order with a board game, a gift card and a second-hand card is three different lines, not one order in one bucket. A historical period never changes if a rate is edited later.
Refunds and credit notes
A refund counts in the period it was given, not the period of the sale. A card sold on 28 March and refunded on 3 April stays in the March period's figures, and the April period shows the VAT credited back. Every refund has a numbered credit note that records exactly what it reversed — the lines, their rate and scheme, delivery and, for second-hand goods, the selling price and cost — and the report reads those figures, so a filed period never moves.
Trade shows and eBay
- Trade shows are counted on the day of each sale, whether or not the show has been posted to your books. Sales not yet posted are labelled, with totals by VAT treatment and the show named. A show kept off the books still counts when you are registered.
- A show abroad — one whose country on its Set up tab is not the UK — sold goods that were outside the UK at the time, so those sales are outside the scope of UK VAT (VAT Notice 700, section 4.8.2). They are listed under Sold at shows abroad by country and are in neither Box 1 nor Box 6, and the second-hand stock they used is taken out of the margin pool.
- eBay sales are counted with their postage on the day eBay took the order, and refunds or cancellations on the day eBay recorded them. A card sent abroad is a zero-rated export, including when eBay collected the destination's tax itself. A second-hand card goes through the margin scheme at its sold price plus postage, against what the copy cost you. A sale in another currency is flagged so you can convert it.
Sales added after a period ended
A sale is always counted on the day it was made. A till that was offline, or a trade show posted after the period closed, can add a sale to a period that has already ended. Those sales are listed under Sales added after this period ended with the period they belong to. If you had already filed that return, it is missing them: correct it on your next return under HMRC's error-correction rules, or ask your accountant.
Second-hand goods — the margin scheme
Shown for any period that falls while the scheme was in use, even if it is switched off today. Items bought for more than £500 are listed one by one with what they cost, what they sold for and the VAT on the difference (nothing on a loss); a refund of one takes its VAT back in the refund's period. Everything else goes through the pool: the period's sales, less refunds, less its purchases give one margin. A loss is carried to your next VAT period, never refunded, and only while the scheme stays in use — a period outside the scheme starts again from nothing. The pool's purchases include later adjustments, listed with the reason, less the cost of pooled goods that were exported (those are zero-rated). Pooled stock that is lost, damaged or counted down, or that ends up sold outside the scheme, has its cost taken back out of purchases in the period it happens, as HMRC requires.
The closing adjustment. When the scheme ends — you switch it off, or cancel your VAT registration — the pooled stock on hand when it ended is recorded at what it cost, within the hour after the scheme ends. In the final period it is added to the pool's sales, unless the VAT on it is £1,000 or less, which the report says. If you later start the scheme again, that stock goes back into the pool as a purchase on the day it restarts.
Warnings
- Refunds not matched to a sale line — money given back on an order with nothing left to credit. They are left out of the boxes; check them with your accountant.
- Exports with no proof — orders sent abroad, zero-rated, more than three months ago with no posting date or tracking number. Without proof of export the VAT is due.
- VAT due on sales made before your number was entered — sales after your registration took effect but before you entered the number. No VAT was shown on them, but it is owed, so it is worked out as part of the price paid and included in the boxes.
- Corrections to purchases from earlier periods — pool adjustments that correct a return already filed. While they are within HMRC's limit for correcting errors on this return they are included; over it they are left out, and you tell HMRC about them online or in writing instead.
The CSV
Download CSV for your accountant has one row per sale line, refund and pool adjustment — date, channel, reference, destination, treatment, scheme, rate, gross, net and VAT — followed by the pool workings and the box totals. It imports into a spreadsheet or accounting package.
Not registered yet
The report shows your taxable turnover for the last 12 months: every sale that is not exempt or outside the scope of VAT, less refunds, on every channel, with second-hand goods at their full selling price. It warns you from £80,000 and again past the £90,000 registration threshold. The Reports page shows the same warning. You must register within 30 days of the end of the month you went over, or if you expect to go over it in the next 30 days alone.