Your guide to filing VAT with Swift VAT Pro
Swift VAT Pro is Making Tax Digital (MTD) bridging software. This playbook walks you through everything - from adding your business to submitting your VAT return - in six simple steps. No accounting jargon, no guesswork.
Add your business
Tell Swift VAT Pro who is filing.
From the left menu choose Add Company. Enter your business or trading name, your VAT registration number, and your contact details, then save. Sole traders add their own business here in exactly the same way.
You can add as many businesses as your plan allows - perfect for accountants filing on behalf of several clients.
Connect to HMRC
A one-time secure authorisation per business.
Open your company’s dashboard and click “Get Access Token”. You’ll be taken to HMRC’s own sign-in page to authorise Swift VAT Pro using your Government Gateway details (HMRC’s official OAuth process).
You only need to do this once per business. The connection can be revoked and renewed at any time from the same dashboard.
Find your VAT period
Swift VAT Pro pulls your open periods straight from HMRC.
Go to VAT Returns → Open Submission. Swift VAT Pro retrieves the VAT periods (“obligations”) that HMRC is currently expecting from you. Pick the period you want to file to open its VAT 100 form.
Upload your figures
Type the nine boxes - or import them from a spreadsheet.
The VAT 100 form has the standard nine boxes. Click Download Sample CSV, fill in your values (or save your own CSV or Excel .xlsx file with rows labelled Box 1 to Box 9), and upload it to fill every box. For a nil return, upload a CSV with 0 in every box. You can review the figures before submitting. To change a figure, correct your file and upload it again.
| Box | What it is |
|---|---|
| 1 | VAT due on sales and other outputs |
| 2 | VAT due on acquisitions from EC Member States |
| 3 | Total VAT due (Box 1 + Box 2) |
| 4 | VAT reclaimed on purchases and other inputs |
| 5 | Net VAT to pay HMRC or reclaim (Box 3 − Box 4) |
| 6 | Total value of sales, excluding VAT |
| 7 | Total value of purchases, excluding VAT |
| 8 | Total value of supplies of goods to EC Member States |
| 9 | Total value of acquisitions of goods from EC Member States |
Confirm & submit to HMRC
One tick, one click - and it’s filed.
Tick the declaration to confirm your figures are correct, complete the on-screen verification, then click Submit VAT. Swift VAT Pro sends your return directly to HMRC and shows the receipt they return - including the processing date and reference.
Keep your records
Every filed return, saved and printable.
Go to VAT Returns → Past Submission to see every period you’ve filed, with its status and figures. Open View for the full return, or Print Return PDF to download a copy for your records.
Free trial
The 7-day trial lets you set up your account, add companies, connect to HMRC and preview your VAT return. Filing a return to HMRC is not included - you need an active subscription to submit.
- 7-day free trial, no payment card needed
- Add companies and connect to HMRC
- Preview your VAT return before you subscribe
Subscribe to file
Subscribing unlocks filing to HMRC for the companies on your plan. Your renewal date is always visible under Order History.
View plans & subscribe →Need to change the card we bill for your subscription - a new card, or one that’s about to expire? You can do it yourself in under a minute:
- Log in to your account and open Packages from the left-hand menu.
- On your current plan, click “Manage billing / update card”.
- You’ll be taken to our secure payment provider, Stripe, where you can add your new card and save it.
- That’s it - your next payment will automatically use the new card.
Still need a hand?
Our team is happy to help you get your first return filed.