How to adjust boxes 6 to 9 of your VAT return

This article explains how to increase or decrease the amounts in boxes 6, 7, 8 and 9 of your VAT return.

The process for adjusting the amounts in boxes 6 to 9 is the same regardless of whether your business uses the VAT Flat Rate Scheme (FRS) or standard VAT scheme. Please note that you’re unable to adjust the amounts in boxes 6 to 9 by creating journal entries.

For information on what goes into each of these boxes, please refer to HMRC's guidance.

FreeAgent will populate these boxes for you based on the information entered into your account, though there may be some occasions when you might need to adjust the figures in boxes 6 to 9 of your VAT return, without making changes to the figures FreeAgent has calculated for boxes 1 to 5.

If you have an accountant, please check with them before making any adjustments to these boxes.

For information on how to adjust boxes 1 and 4 of your VAT return, please see this article.

1. Navigate to the relevant VAT return

Navigate to the ‘Taxes’ tab at the of the screen and select ‘VAT’ from the drop-down menu.

Select the VAT return that you’d like to adjust from the list.

2. Adjust the boxes on the VAT return

To adjust the numbers in boxes 6, 7 , 8 or 9, select ‘Edit Details’ in the top-right.

In the ‘Adjustments’ section, enter the amounts you want to adjust in the relevant boxes.

If you enter a positive number into any of these boxes , the amount on your VAT return will increase. If you enter a negative number into any of these boxes, the amount on your VAT return will decrease.

Select ‘Save changes’ to complete the process and update your VAT return.

How can I review the adjustments?

To view any adjustments you’ve made to boxes 6 to 9 on your VAT return, navigate to the 'Taxes' tab at the top of the screen and select ‘VAT’ from the drop-down menu. Select the relevant VAT return from the list and select the ‘Full Report’ tab to view the adjustments to the total value of boxes 6 to 9.

The adjustments will be displayed as ‘Manual adjustments’ at the bottom of the relevant columns in the 'Sales' and 'Purchases' sections.