Once a VAT return has been created and approved, click the Complete VAT Return button to complete the VAT return. On the form, check the details of the selected return line, such as the return period and the payment reference. You can choose to submit the VAT return to the tax authorities either manually or electronically. The result of the process depends on your choice. Open the journal to see which invoices are included in the VAT return and to perform any checks.
Tip: The journal allows you to perform various checks. For example, you can verify whether all entries made during a particular period have been included in the return, and you can see the individual elements of the return.
Electronic return
Using an electronic VAT return, you can submit your VAT return or tax return adjustment to the Tax Authorities quickly and without the risk of any data entry mistakes. Isah Finance automatically collects the required amounts, thereby eliminating manual entry. Without needing login details for the Tax Authorities, you can send your details to the Tax Authorities just by clicking the OK button.
For electronic returns, you need a PKI government certificate (PKIoverheid) issued by the tax authorities to create a legally valid electronic signature. You do not have to purchase this certificate yourself: Isah provides a collective certificate allowing you to add an electronic signature to your return.
In order to use electronic returns, you need to install a new version of the Isah Electronic Returns Service every year. This will ensure that returns are created using the most current taxonomy (definitions of the details required for mandatory reporting).
In most cases, your electronic VAT return will be accepted by the tax authorities within minutes. Occasionally, something goes wrong with the return, for example because no connection could be established with the website of the tax authorities, because the certificate could be found, or because the return is missing data. Statuses represent the progress of the return, such as 'Received by tax authorities' or 'Validation by tax authorities has failed'. The display panel shows the current status. To see detailed information about the stage the return is in, check the status flow on the VAT return lines.
Once the Complete VAT Return process has been executed successfully, you can no longer delete the return. You can, however, still create an adjustment (correction) by clicking the Create VAT Return button. You can only submit an adjustment to a tax return if the tax return has the status of 'Accepted by tax authorities'.
Note: The return submission process starts by logging in to Digipoort. If the submission fails, the software will attempt to submit the return to Digipoort for a period of one day. Alternatively, you can choose to submit the return manually. If you select 'Manual return' on the Complete VAT Return processing form, the resubmission attempts will stop. The following return statuses (visible on the display panel and on the Status flow form) allow you to send the return manually: Draft, In queue, Unexpected error. Once the return has been received by Digipoort, you can no longer abort the electronic return.
Note: It is possible to perform tests with electronic returns before you submit the actual return. You need to configure this when installing both Isah Finance Services and the Isah Electronic Returns Service. Before you can finalize the return, a message will appear about these settings, which you need to discard. The message informs you whether the return is an actual return or a test return. If the settings vary between services (one service has Test environment selected and the other does not), a message will appear saying that the return cannot be submitted. In that case, the return can only be submitted manually.
Manual return
For manual returns, log in to the website of the tax authorities, and copy the amounts from the VAT return in Isah Finance into the appropriate return categories on the website.
Once you have completed the Complete VAT Return process, you can no longer delete the return. You can, however, still create an adjustment (correction) by clicking the Create VAT Return button. You can only submit an adjustment to a tax return if the tax return has a 'Final' status.