Q. Our business made VAT errors of £60,000 on the last return, caused by input tax duplications on purchase invoices. Do we resubmit our VAT return or is there a more formal way of notifying HMRC?
A. The value of the error exceeds the £10,000 limit where you could adjust it on your next VAT return, so a separate disclosure must be made. The priority is to give HMRC as much information as possible about how the errors occurred and the calculations you have made and action taken to avoid a repeat.
Full disclosure will minimise a potential penalty for careless behaviour, hopefully to zero. You have the choice of making the disclosure on either Form VAT652 or in a separate bespoke letter.