MTD VAT Submission Changes for Postponed VAT

Postponed VAT changes from 1^st January 2021 in the UK mean that Making Tax Digital VAT submissions have to change slightly for submissions that include the month of January 2021 and after.

For imports into the UK from outside of the UK from 1st January 2021 you need to use new VAT code “IM” and for imports into Northern Ireland from outside of the UK from 1st January 2021 you need to use new VAT code “IMNI”. There are also some minor changes to how the figures in the various boxes on your VAT submission are calculated.

We have written a system update snapshot to update your Optimise system, set up the new VAT codes and change any transactions from 1st January posted with the old “EC Purchases” code to the new VAT code.

We will be rolling it out to all of our affected clients in the next couple of days.

When the system update has been installed and is ready to run on your system you will see a red “Alert” at the top of the Optimise program menu.

When you click on the alert you will be advised to run the system update snapshot.

You should run the system update as soon as you can and before your next MTD VAT submission.

The system update only affects the database you are logged into. If you have more than one live database, then the update needs to be run on each one. You do not need to run it on a test database unless you regularly use it. This update is not required for databases outside the UK (if run it will not make any changes).

These are the steps to install the system update:-

1. First run Snapshot Id 257 and check suppliers set up as EC Purchases should remain as EC Purchases. Amend to UK VAT rate if not.
2. Ask other users to log out of Optimise until the system update is complete.
3. Click on the “Snapshots” option from the main menu.
4. Double-click the System Update snapshot (it will be the first in the list) and click “Create Spreadsheet”.
5. This will start the update which might take several minutes depending on the amount of data in your database.
6. The “Create Spreadsheet” will change to “Cancel” whilst the update is being run.
7. Please allow the update time to complete – do not cancel or click on Optimise – it should take no more than a few minutes ro run.
8. If you do click on Optimise whilst the update is running, you will get the message “Not Responding”. This does not mean that the update is stalled, it is still running so please leave the update to complete.
9. When complete, the “Cancel” button will be changed back to “Create Spreadsheet” and an Excel icon will be highlighted in your taskbar.
10. On completion, click on the Excel icon in your taskbar to open the spreadsheet which has a list of the updates carried out together with information on what has changed on the system.
11. It is important that you read the information provided as there are changes you need to adopt when operating the system.
12. There is no requirement to save the spreadsheet unless you wish to do so for your own records.
13. You should now log out and back into Optimise and other users can log back in.

If you have any queries please contact our helpdesk.