How-to

Connect HMRC MTD for VAT submission

Authorise Blankitt with HMRC once, then file your VAT returns directly from your invoice + expense data.

2 min readLast updated 26 May 2026
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What it does

Making Tax Digital for VAT is HMRC's mandatory digital-filing regime. Connect your Government Gateway account once and Blankitt can read your obligations (open and fulfilled periods), liabilities, and payments — and submit the return on your behalf. The draft is built from your invoice + expense data and is scheme-aware: standard, cash, flat-rate, and annual accounting all post boxes 1-9 correctly without you having to adjust the calculation.

You stay in control of the final figures. Blankitt prepares the return; you review, edit any box manually if needed, and click Submit when you're happy.

How to use it

  1. Set your VAT number on Settings → Company profile. HMRC's API refuses every call without it, so this is a hard prerequisite.
  2. Open Settings → HMRC and click Connect HMRC.
  3. You're redirected to HMRC's Government Gateway consent screen. Sign in with the gateway credentials for the entity that owns the VAT number (not your personal gateway).
  4. Grant the read + submit scopes when prompted. You're redirected back to Blankitt and the page flips to Connected.
  5. Open VAT returns. The page shows current obligations — both open periods awaiting a return and fulfilled ones already filed. For an open period, click View.
  6. Blankitt pre-fills boxes 1-9 from the period's transactions. Review each box; edit inline if you need to override anything (for example a partial-exemption adjustment).
  7. Click Submit. HMRC returns a form bundle number and processing date which we store as the official receipt. The period flips to fulfilled once HMRC acknowledges.

Tips

  • To test without filing real returns, use HMRC's sandbox gateway. The worker auto-switches the API base URL when a sandbox token is in play — no separate environment toggle needed.
  • Disconnect any time via Settings → HMRC → Disconnect. The access tokens are cleared; filed returns stay on the record for audit, and you can reconnect later without losing history.
  • The scheme is read from Settings → VAT scheme. If you switch from standard to cash mid-year, change the scheme date too — the engine splits the period correctly.
  • Late-claim VAT (older transactions found after the period was filed) lands automatically in the next open obligation's box 4 / box 7. No manual adjustment needed.

Still stuck? Email support or open the support widget in the bottom-right.