Tax — where you stand, and what we will not doNew
Your VAT quarter, what you charged less what you were charged, and a list of everything stopping that figure being right.
Written 21 October 2026
The Tax tab works out your own figures from your own records so you can see where you stand before anybody asks. It does not send anything to HMRC, it does not file your return, and it is not HMRC-recognised software — that is said here, on the page, and checked by the build so nobody can quietly change it.
Step by step
- 1
Go to Business Health, then Tax.
- 2
Answer the five questions first, if you have not.
Which VAT scheme you are on, which quarter group HMRC gave you, whether your figures count when you invoice or when you are paid, how the business is set up, and your year end. Until they are answered the page refuses rather than guesses.
- 3
Read the quarter and the date at the top.
Your VAT quarter, and the date a return covering it would be due — one calendar month and seven days after it ends.
- 4
Read the three figures.
What you charged in VAT, what you were charged, and the difference. That difference is the subtraction and nothing else.
- 5
Work down the list underneath.
Everything that is stopping those figures being complete, worst first, each with a link to where you fix it.
Worth knowing
TaskMyJob does not file your return, and never says it does
We keep the records and show you the figures. The return itself is filed by you, your accountant, or Xero, QuickBooks or Sage if you have connected one — those three are recognised; we are not, and nothing in this app will tell you otherwise. There is a check in the build that fails on any page, help article or answer that claims HMRC recognition or says we submit anything. It exists because that sentence is an easy and tempting one to write.
An unanswered question gets a refusal, not a default
If nobody has said which quarter group you are in, the page says so and tells you where to find it. It does not pick the common one. Three businesses in four are in group 1, and showing the fourth a quarter that is not theirs — with nothing on screen saying so — is worse than showing nothing.
A bill you have not keyed in is left out, and said so
A receipt photographed and not typed up has no VAT figure. It is counted, named, and kept OUT of the total rather than read as zero. The figure will move when you fill it in, which is why the page tells you how many are waiting.
Flat rate is a different sum, and we do not do it
On the flat rate scheme your return is a percentage of gross turnover and most of your input VAT is not reclaimable — so “VAT charged less VAT paid” is not your figure at all. The percentage depends on your trade and we do not hold it. The page says so and shows you your turnover instead of a number that would look like an answer.
Your quarter group is not a choice
HMRC puts every quarterly business into one of three groups: group 1 ends March, June, September and December; group 2 ends January, April, July and October; group 3 ends February, May, August and November. It is on your VAT registration certificate. You cannot change it here — you are telling us which one you were given.
Making Tax Digital is recorded, not acted on
You can record where you are with it so it sits beside your own figures. Nothing happens as a result. The thresholds and dates have moved more than once; our Making Tax Digital checker says when its figures were last checked, and that is deliberate.