Create and update VAT rates
Receipt Bot can automate your bookkeeping tasks and track expenses in real-time. It automatically calculates VAT amounts from bills and receipts during the data extraction. To enable accurate VAT/GST extraction, setting up Receipt Bot with the correct VAT/GST settings is essential.
Options to manage VAT/GST rates
The following options are available for managing the VAT/GST rates in Receipt Bot.
- Integrate with Accounting Software to import VAT/GST rates automatically
- Setup your VAT status in Receipt Bot manually so that Receipt Bot add VAT/GST rates automatically
- Add VAT/GST Rate using the Add VAT/GST button
- Import a list of VAT/GST Rates from a CSV file
- Edit or archive existing VAT/GST Rate
Option 1: Integrate with Accounting Software to import VAT/GST rates automatically
When you integrate your Receipt Bot business with accounting software, Receipt Bot will automatically import all your VAT/GST rate data and perform a sync operation each time you access the business. (This will ensure that list of VAT/GST rates are always up to date.)
It’s important to note that if your business is integrated with accounting software, you cannot manually add or update VAT/GST rates.
Please refer to the following user guide for more detailed information on integrating your business with accounting software.
- If you need to connect to Xero, follow this guide; Integrate with Xero.
- If you need to connect to QuickBooks Online, follow this guide; Integrate with QuickBooks Online.
Option 2: Setup your VAT status in Receipt Bot manually so that Receipt Bot add VAT/GST rates automatically
Suppose you set up your VAT status as “Registered” in Receipt Bot. In that case, the system automatically adds the relevant VAT rates based on the country selected and uploaded documents.
Following are the steps to change VAT/GST registration status in Receipt Bot:
Step 1 – Navigate to the ‘Master Data’ page from the left side of business menu.
Step 2 – Click the “VAT Rates” page.
Step 3 –Change the fields as required. Suppose you can change the VAT/GST Status to “Registered” to enable the VAT amount extraction in Receipt Bot.
You can edit the following fields in the VAT/GST settings:
VAT/GST Status: Set it to ‘Registered’ if the business is registered with the tax authority for sales tax.
VAT/GST Schemes: Specify the VAT/GST calculation scheme. The allowed schemes are following;
- Accrual Scheme: This scheme requires the VAT/GST amount to be recorded when the bill/receipt is generated. Receipt Bot extracts the VAT amount mentioned from the document and records the VAT date; therefore, the VAT calculation for this scheme is supported in Receipt Bot. The VAT return is also created based on the HMRC rules for this scheme.
- Cash Scheme: The cash scheme requires calculating the VAT amount when the payment is sent or received. Receipt Bot currently does not support this VAT scheme.
- Flat Rate Accrual Scheme: This scheme requires that you apply a flat percentage to your total sales amount for the VAT period to calculate VAT liability. Receipt Bot currently does not support this VAT scheme.
- Flat Rate Cash Scheme: This scheme requires you to apply a fixed percentage against the cash collected from your sales to calculate your VAT amount. Receipt Bot currently does not support this VAT scheme as well.
Step 4 – Click the ‘Save’ button.
Your VAT settings are saved in the Receipt Bot. The system will automatically add relevant VAT rates based on your country.
If there are VAT rates defined for your country or the VAT rates added by the system are incorrect, you can drop an email at hello@receipt-bot.com to get VAT/GST rates correct for the country.
Alternatively, Receipt Bot will also add a VAT/GST rate, mentioned in any bill or receipt but not available in the list of VAT rates in Receipt Bot.
Option 3: Add VAT/GST rate using the Add VAT/GST button
You can also add a custom VAT/GST rate to Receipt Bot by following these steps:
Step 1 – Navigate to the ‘Master Data’ page from the left side of business menu.
Step 2 – Click the “VAT Rates” page.
Step 3 – Click the Add VAT/GST Rates button.
Step 4 – Enter VAT/GST rate details like Name and Percentage.
Step 5 – Select the VAT/GST type: Sale and Purchase.
The VAT/GST types specify the transactions on which the new VAT/GST rate can be used.
Step 6 – Click the ‘Save’ button.
Your new VAT/GST rate will be added successfully. It can now be applied to sale/purchase transactions in Receipt Bot.
Option 4: Import a list of VAT/GST Rates from a CSV file
You can also import a list of VAT/GST rates to Receipt Bot using our import VAT/GST Rate import template.
Follow these steps to import VAT/GST rates in Receipt Bot:
Step 1 – Navigate to the ‘Master Data’ page from the left side of business menu.
Step 2 –Click the “VAT Rates” page.
Step 3 – Click the ‘Import VAT/GST Rates’ button.
Step 4 – Download the ‘VAT/GST rates Import Template’ file.
Step 5 – Place your VAT/GST rate data according to the required format
The following data must be provided for VAT/GST rates when importing with this template:
- *Tax Name: (Mandatory) A short name for identifying the VAT/GST records through the system.
- *Tax Percentage: (Mandatory) The effective percentage to be applied to the net amount for VAT calculation.
- *VAT/GST Type: (Mandatory) The type of transactions on which the new VAT/GST rate can be used.
Step 6 – Click the ‘Browse’ button and select the formatted CSV file.
The system will validate your data and perform the following checks;
- All the mandatory fields are filled.
- The VAT/GST name is not duplicated for the selected business.
Step 7 – Click the ‘Import’ button to complete the import process.
Your list of VAT/GST rates should be imported to Receipt Bot and appear on the VAT/GST Rates page.
Option 5 – Edit or archive existing VAT/GST Rate
Step 1 – Navigate to the ‘Master Data’ page from the left side of business menu.
Step 2 –Click the “VAT Rates” page.
Step 3 – Click the ‘Import VAT/GST Rates’ button.
Step 4 – Click the ‘Edit’ 
for the VAT/GST rate you want to edit.
Step 5 – Click the relevant field and update as required. For example, click the ‘Status’ field and set it as ‘Archived’ to archive a VAT/GST rate.
The archived VAT/GST rates are filtered out by default on the page, and you can clear the filter on the “Status” column to view archived records.
Step 6 – Click the ‘Save’ 
Your changes will be saved for the VAT/GST rates in Receipt Bot.
Limitations in Receipt Bot mobile app
Receipt Bot has no feature related to adding or updating VAT/GST rate data from the Receipt Bot mobile apps. Please use the Receipt Bot web portal if you need to perform such changes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can Receipt Bot automatically import VAT/GST rate data from accounting software?
A: By integrating your business with accounting software, Receipt Bot will automatically import all your VAT/GST rate data and keep it current.
Q: What happens if I do not set a business as Registered for VAT/GST?
A: If a business is set VAT/GST Registered, the system will extract the VAT/GST amount from the bills/receipt documents.
The VAT/GST amount will be zero for uploaded documents if a business is not registered for VAT/GST.