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Last Updated: 2023-06-23
Setup Considerations: E-Filing VAT Returns (UK)

Setup Considerations: E-Filing VAT Returns (UK)

You can use this topic to help make decisions when planning your configuration and use of e-filing for Value Added Tax (VAT) returns in the UK. It explains:
  • Why to set it up.
  • How it fits into the rest of Workday.
  • Downstream impacts and cross-product interactions.
  • Security requirements and business process configurations.
  • Questions and limitations to consider before implementation.
Refer to detailed task instructions for full configuration details.

What It Is

The e-filing functionality enables you to submit VAT returns electronically to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Business Benefits

E-filing helps you:
  • Streamline the process of creating and submitting VAT returns.
  • Comply with the Making Tax Digital initiative, which requires businesses to submit VAT returns electronically.

Use Cases

You can use the Workday e-filing functionality to:
  • Grant Workday permission to access your UK Government Gateway.
  • Submit VAT returns for a company or a VAT or Goods and Services Tax (GST) group.
  • Correct errors on e-filed VAT returns.

Questions to Consider

Questions
Considerations
Have you already configured a VAT number on your company tax details?
E-filing requires a 9-digit VAT registration number with no alphabetical characters. You can configure this VAT registration number using the
E-File VAT Registration Number
 tax ID type for the UK.
When you e-file for a VAT or GST group, Workday uses the VAT registration number of the primary company in the group.
Have you already configured Workday to create VAT returns?
E-filing requires you to change your existing tax declaration definitions. Also, ensure that your tax declaration components produce information in the correct format for e-filing, as you can't change the format manually after creating the VAT return.
Example: Configure rounding and truncation options for the appropriate boxes on the VAT 100 form.
How many companies do you plan to e-file VAT returns for?
Workday supports e-filing for multiple companies or VAT or GST groups. When you submit for more than 1 company, ensure that you:
  • Maintain a valid VAT registration number for each company.
  • Sign in to the UK Government Gateway for each company in your browser before you submit.

Recommendations

Access the
Test HMRC Authentication
 report to test the connection between Workday and HMRC when setting up this feature.

Requirements

  • Register your company for Making Tax Digital.
  • Configure tax declaration components and a tax declaration definition to gather the data required by the VAT 100 form.
  • Enable e-filing on your tax declaration definition.

Limitations

  • Workday supports e-filing for VAT returns in the UK only.
  • HMRC doesn't accept amendments through e-filing.
  • On the
    Test HMRC Authentication
     report, Workday doesn't explicitly confirm successful authorization. When authorization is successful, the browser redirects you back to Workday.
  • You can't test e-filing in Sandbox tenants as HMRC doesn't provide a test facility.

Tenant Setup

No impact.

Security

Domains
Considerations
These domains in the Common Financial Management functional area:
  • Reports: Create Tax Declaration
  • Set Up: Tax
You can configure either domain to enable users to e-file. Ensure that security groups that e-file tax declarations have:
  • View
     and
    Modify
     access for tasks and reports.
  • Get
     and
    Put
     integration permissions.
Reports: Transaction Tax
 domain in the Common Financial Management and Customer Accounts functional areas
Users secured to this domain can view transaction tax reports, enabling them to:
  • Find tax declarations to e-file.
  • Check the e-file status of submitted tax declarations.
When you submit a VAT return using HMRC's e-filing process, certain information about your device (including a unique cookie ID) will be sent to HMRC for its anti-fraud purposes. See HMRC’s mandatory fraud prevention requirements for more information.
Workday sends these headers when you e-file:
Headers
Considerations
Gov-Client-Browser-Do-Not-Track
Indicates whether the user has selected the Do Not Track option on their browser.
Gov-Client-Browser-JS-User-Agent
Provides a JavaScript-reported user agent string from the device used to e-file.
Gov-Client-Browser-Plugins
Identifies any browser plugins that the user submitting the VAT return has installed.
Gov-Client-Connection-Method
Identifies the connection method used for the request.
Gov-Client-Device-ID
Identifies the user's device uniquely and permanently.
Gov-Client-Local-IPs
Lists all local IP addresses (IPv4 and IPv6) available to the device.
Gov-Client-Local-IPs-Timestamp
Records the time that
Gov-Client-Local-IPs
 is collected.
Gov-Client-Public-IP
Provides the public IP address of the device.
Gov-Client-Public-IP-Timestamp
Records the time that
Gov-Client-Public-IP
 is collected.
Gov-Client-Public-Port
Provides the public TCP port that the device uses when initiating the request.
Gov-Client-Screens
Provides information about the screen of the device.
Gov-Client-Timezone
Provides the local time zone of the device.
Gov-Client-User-IDs
Provides the username of the person who submits the VAT return.
Gov-Client-Window-Size
Provides the size of the window on the device.
Gov-Vendor-Forwarded
Provides details about any hops over the internet between services that terminate TLS.
Gov-Vendor-Product-Name
Identifies Workday as the product used to submit the VAT return.
Gov-Vendor-Version
Identifies the Workday version used to submit the VAT return.

Business Processes

Configure the
Tax Declaration Event
 business process and security policy to enable separate users to create and approve tax declarations before e-filing.

Reporting

Reports
Considerations
Test HMRC Authentication
You can use this report to grant Workday authority to access your UK Government Gateway and test the connection between Workday and the HMRC APIs.
View Tax E-File Template
You can use this report to determine whether a tax e-file template is appropriate for your tax declaration definition.
You can use the
Tax Declaration Results
 report data source to create custom reports on e-filed VAT returns.

Integrations

The
Submit E-File
 task, accessible from the related actions menu of an approved tax declaration, uses these web services to share information with HMRC APIs:
  • Get Mapped Tax Declaration E-Filing Results
  • Put Tax Declaration E-Filing Result

Connections and Touchpoints

Features
Considerations
Banking and Settlement
Customer Accounts
Expenses
Projects
Supplier Accounts
Workday populates tax declarations using tax-relevant data from transactions in these areas.
Transaction Taxes
E-filing interacts with the tax declaration framework, consisting of:
  • Tax declaration components.
  • Tax declaration definitions.
  • Tax declarations.
Workday offers a Touchpoints Kit with resources to help you understand configuration relationships in your tenant. Learn more about the Workday Touchpoints Kit on Workday Community.