Making Tax Digital

zebedyboy

After posting my question on 8th July "Does anyone recommend PORTICO or 100PcVatFreeBridge (Comsci) both free, or CMH bridge at £7.50 plus VAT per return" - last week I submitted my VAT return via PORTICO - I am delighted to recommend Portico - there is no sign up or registration, just had to use my GATEWAY ID and password etc. All FAQ's at open answers Portico. It is free, user friendly, no need to upload your spreadsheet (although you can if you prefer). I entered my figures - boxes 1 - 9, same format as we are used to via Gateway. Logged into HMRC gateway today, VAT obligation figure stated and therefore confirmed. I have to say that I was worried about having to conform to MTD, not wanting to pay for software to submit our straightforward return for such a small company. The hundreds of software providers listed on HMRC's website is overwhelming and made it a time consuming and difficult task to find a suitable solution. Thank you for recommending PORTICO, this was so very easy to use and my VAT return is now completed without any issues.

jaybeetoo

Am I missing something? What is the point of MTD if you type the input for boxes 1-9 into a third party web site instead of the government web site?

Where’s the benefit for the government or the business?

Don’t understand!

:huh:

ddaddy

If you are typing figures, you are not MTD compliant.
Yes you might be able to submit your return, but you are not compliant.
HMRC are having a 12 month soft landing were they say they won’t punish for non compliance, but you will have to be shown to be working towards compliance. With bridging software this means your spreadsheet calculates your return figures automatically the software grabs them figures with no copy/pasting or typing of figures.

gilbertthecat

Portico allows you to be fully MTD compliant by uploading your spreadsheet calculations

zebedyboy

Using Portico for my VAT return, just to add, my spreadsheet is MTD compliant in that the 9 figures are calculated from 2 sheets in my workbook, Sales and Expenses. However, since I did not fully understand the option to upload the figures by CSV - "then ensure the CSV file contains a single record with 9 comma separated values corresponding to the 9 VAT boxes." I simply did not have time, so opted to type the figures in myself. I would request a clearer explanation of the CSV file upload for when I submit my next return though...

PNEfan

Just used Portico and would like to register my thanks to Gilbertthecat for the facility. Have been so worried about the first MTD return, and needn't have been. Thought I would might need to upload my spreadsheets and map cells to the VAT return as I have seen with other bridging software - no such hassle. Was able to send in data pretty much like before. Phew!