Your sales (output VAT side)
Your purchases (input VAT side)
Your VAT return — by box
Box-by-box detail
| Box | Label | Amount |
|---|
What each box on a UK VAT return means
The standard UK VAT return has nine boxes. This calculator fills in all of them for you based on plain-English inputs.
Output VAT side
- Box 1 — VAT due on sales and other outputs (the VAT you charged customers, plus reverse-charge purchases self-accounted for).
- Box 2 — VAT due on acquisitions of goods from EU member states (post-Brexit, almost always £0 for UK service businesses).
- Box 3 — Total VAT due (Box 1 + Box 2).
Input VAT side
- Box 4 — VAT reclaimed on purchases (input VAT you can recover, including reverse-charge purchases which also went into Box 1).
- Box 5 — Net VAT to pay or reclaim (Box 3 − Box 4). Positive = you owe HMRC. Negative = HMRC owes you.
Totals
- Box 6 — Total value of sales excluding VAT (sum of all standard, reduced, zero-rated and reverse-charge sales; excludes exempt sales).
- Box 7 — Total value of purchases excluding VAT.
- Box 8 — Total value of goods supplied to EU (post-Brexit: usually £0 for UK businesses; goods supplies need separate customs declarations).
- Box 9 — Total value of goods acquired from EU (post-Brexit: usually £0).
The reverse-charge trick
Reverse-charge purchases (cloud services from US suppliers, EU professional services) require you to self-account for the UK VAT at 20%. You add the notional VAT to Box 1 (as if you'd charged it to yourself), and then immediately reclaim the same amount in Box 4. The two cancel out — your net VAT bill is unchanged — but you must declare both sides. Failing to do this is one of the most common VAT mistakes HMRC catches in inspections.
Worked examples
Sales: £20,000 at 20% (UK clients) + £5,000 reverse charge (US B2B clients).
Purchases: £3,000 UK software/tools at 20% + £600 of Google/Meta ads (reverse charge).
Box 1: £4,000 (UK output VAT) + £120 (RC on Google ads) = £4,120.
Box 4: £600 (UK input VAT) + £120 (RC reclaim) = £720.
Box 5: £3,400 owed to HMRC.
Box 6: £20,000 + £5,000 = £25,000.
Box 7: £3,000 + £600 = £3,600.
Same designer as above, but bought a £4,000 (ex VAT) laptop this quarter. Adds £4,000 to Box 7, £800 of input VAT to Box 4 → net VAT due drops from £3,400 to £2,600. Capital purchases above ~£2,000 can produce a Box 5 refund quarter if your output VAT is low.
No. This is a working calculator only — it computes the figures you'd then enter into HMRC's MTD-compatible bookkeeping software (FreeAgent, Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, etc.) or your accountant's portal. Direct submission to HMRC requires MTD-compatible software with an API connection. See our MTD for VAT explainer for the software you need.
Box 6 is total sales excluding VAT — your standard, reduced, zero-rated and reverse-charge sales added together (exempt sales are excluded). Box 7 is total purchases excluding VAT — your standard, reduced, zero-rated and reverse-charge purchases added together. These figures are essentially "turnover for the period" and "spend for the period" — HMRC uses them for analytics and inspection targeting.
No. Zero-rated sales (food, books, children's clothes, exports) are VAT-able but at 0% — they go in Box 6 and allow you to reclaim input VAT. Exempt sales (insurance, financial services, education) are outside the scope of VAT entirely — they're excluded from Box 6 and you cannot reclaim input VAT on costs that relate solely to making them. Get this wrong and you under-reclaim input VAT or over-state Box 6.
For B2B services you buy from overseas suppliers (like Google or Meta) or services you sell to overseas business customers, no VAT is charged on the invoice. Instead, the buyer self-accounts for the VAT in their own VAT return — adding the notional VAT to Box 1 (as if they'd charged themselves) and reclaiming the same amount in Box 4. It's a paperwork exercise that cancels out, but it must be declared. See our full reverse-charge guide.
Quarterly, with submission and payment both due one calendar month and seven days after the end of the VAT period. So a Q1 return covering Jan–Mar is due by 7 May. You'll have specific quarter dates assigned when you register — they're not always aligned to calendar quarters. Annual Accounting Scheme members submit one annual return instead, with interim payments.
HMRC will refund you — typically within 10 working days of submission if you're set up for BACS refunds. Repayment claims often trigger an inspection if they're unexpected or large; have your supporting invoices and the rationale ready.
You can correct net errors up to £10,000 (or 1% of Box 6 turnover, up to £50,000) by adjusting your next VAT return. Larger errors must be notified separately via form VAT652. Deliberate misstatements carry penalties of 30–100% of the under-declared tax. Honest errors disclosed before HMRC discovers them attract much smaller penalties.
This calculator computes the figures for a standard-scheme UK VAT return. It does not submit to HMRC — for that you need MTD-compatible software with an API connection. Always cross-check against your bookkeeping records before submitting, and consult an accountant for complex situations (partial exemption, margin schemes, second-hand goods, TOMS).