USE-CASE: UK VAT
Automate the inbox half of your UK VAT return.
A VAT return is only as good as the ledger behind it. MailTract turns the invoices sitting in Gmail or any IMAP inbox into a checked, multi-rate VAT ledger, with every anomaly flagged before it reaches your return.
Where VAT returns really go wrong
For most small UK businesses the sales side of a VAT return is easy: you raised the invoices, so they're already in your software. The purchase side is the problem. Supplier invoices and receipts arrive by email all quarter, from dozens of senders, as PDFs, photos and plain-text receipts, and someone has to find each one and enter it by hand.
That is where the errors come from: an invoice missed, the same one entered twice, a mixed-rate invoice entered as if it were all 20%, or a VAT figure keyed in wrong. Each one changes the input VAT you reclaim.
How MailTract builds the VAT ledger
UK VAT is rarely one rate. A single supplier invoice can mix standard-rated (20%), reduced-rated (5%) and zero-rated lines. MailTract extracts the VAT breakdown line by line and checks each one: net plus VAT must equal gross within ±£0.02, or the document goes to the exceptions log.
Supplier VAT numbers are captured and format-checked, the invoice date (the tax point printed on the document) is used rather than a later Direct Debit collection date, credit notes keep their negative amounts, and duplicates are caught by file hash before they double-count an expense.
Making Tax Digital and digital links
Every VAT-registered business must follow Making Tax Digital for VAT: records kept digitally, and data passed between programs through a digital link rather than retyped or copied and pasted.
MailTract fits that chain. Approved documents sync to accounting software over an API as draft expenses, or you export a file that your software imports. Either way the figures are never retyped between the receipt and your return.
A VAT quarter with MailTract
- 01
Scan the quarter
Pick the VAT period's dates and scan every connected inbox. Only documents that extract and validate use a credit; noise and duplicates are free.
- 02
Clear the exceptions
Work through the flagged list: arithmetic that doesn't add up, missing VAT numbers, low-confidence photos and duplicates.
- 03
Approve and assign
Approve the rest in bulk. If one inbox serves two companies, assign each document to the right one.
- 04
Hand it on
Sync draft expenses to your accounting software, or export the Excel ledger and evidence pack for your accountant.
Records HMRC can check
You must keep VAT records for at least six years, and invoices you receive can be kept as electronic copies. MailTract stores each original attachment next to its extracted figures, and the evidence pack exports the untouched originals with an evidence sheet per document and a SHA-256 manifest, so you can show exactly where every number came from.
Who it's for
Sole traders and small limited companies doing their own VAT returns, businesses where one inbox serves more than one company, and accountants and bookkeepers who spend the end of each quarter chasing clients for receipts. Prefer a spreadsheet? The Excel export gives VAT totals by rate, supplier and month.
Frequently asked questions
Does MailTract submit my VAT return to HMRC?
No. MailTract prepares the purchase side: it finds the invoices and receipts in your inbox, extracts and checks the VAT, and passes clean records on. The return itself is submitted from your Making Tax Digital compatible accounting or bridging software.
Is MailTract compatible with Making Tax Digital for VAT?
MailTract keeps your purchase records digitally and passes them on without retyping, either by syncing approved expenses to accounting software over an API or by exporting a file that your software imports. Making Tax Digital requires that kind of digital link between programs; copying figures across by hand or with copy and paste is not allowed.
Can I reclaim VAT using an emailed PDF instead of a paper invoice?
Yes. HMRC accepts invoices you receive as originals or electronic copies. You must keep VAT records for at least six years, so MailTract stores the original attachment and can export it, byte-identical, in an evidence pack with a SHA-256 manifest.
How does it handle invoices with more than one VAT rate?
Each VAT line is extracted separately, for example 20% standard, 5% reduced and 0% zero-rated items on one invoice, and every line is checked so that net plus VAT equals gross within ±£0.02. If the lines don't add up to the document total, it goes to the exceptions log for review.
What about credit notes and refunds?
Credit notes keep their negative amounts, so they reduce your totals instead of inflating them. They're shown and exported like any other document so the VAT position stays honest.
Can one inbox serve more than one VAT-registered company?
Yes. Add each company with its VAT number in Settings, then assign documents to the right one when you approve them. Exports, evidence packs and filters can all be run per company.
File from a ledger you can defend.
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