VAEC7960 | Error correction for VAT returns: Processing: Assessments amalgamation

The procedural guidance in this manual only covers the VAT Mainframe and VISION processes. For guidance on the Making Tax Digital and ETMP processes for fully migrated customers, see VAEC0200 and the Making Tax Digital for VAT compliance toolkit.

You may wish to consider combining any officer’s assessments and error corrections which are waiting to be processed.

What can be combined?

• Any number of officer’s assessment can be combined on one form VAT641.

• Any number of error notifications received without payment can be combined on one form VAT642

• Any number of officer’s assessments and error notifications received without payment can be combined on form VAT641. If an error notification is combined on a form VAT641, you should consider inhibiting any potential penalty, see VAEC7610, VAEC7650, and CH81141.

• However, if a remittance was sent with an error correction, it cannot be combined with a VAT 641 which shows another remittance with a different date of receipt.

In amalgamating documents in this way adjustments must be attributed to output tax and input tax. To allow the calculation of any potential penalties such attribution and combination must only relate to disclosures of inaccuracies that attract the same penalty reduction.

Processing of any document should not be delayed to wait for another assessment or error correction not currently available for processing.

A person may prefer not to have their assessments or error corrections amalgamated because they cannot then allocate specific interest charges to their various cost centres. However, in view of the possible advantages of amalgamation, they may wish to develop their own system of estimating the allocation of interest.

Whilst we can give advice to a person on the calculation of interest it is not recommended that you become involved in providing a cost centre breakdown analysis of the interest amount.