How to Add VAT to Your Government Gateway: A Step-by-Step Guide for Kent Businesses

Once you have your own Government Gateway account — and every Kent business owner should, as we explained in our guide to owning your own HMRC access — the next job is to add the taxes your business actually deals with. This short guide covers VAT: what you need to hand, the steps to follow, and a couple of things that trip people up. It takes about five minutes.

Before you start: what you’ll need

Have your VAT certificate nearby. To add VAT you will be asked for:

• Your VAT registration number (nine digits).
• The date you registered for VAT — this is on your VAT registration certificate or HMRC’s confirmation letter.
• The postcode of your principal place of business.
• If you have already submitted VAT returns, the month of your last return and the figure in box 5 (the amount paid to or reclaimed from HMRC).

Step by step

Sign in to your Business Tax Account at GOV.UK (search “HMRC online services”) and then:

• From your business tax summary, select “Get online access to a tax, duty or scheme”, then “Add a tax, duty or scheme now”.
• Choose VAT when asked which tax you want to add.
• Enter the details above — VAT number, registration date, postcode, and the last-return figures if asked.
• Check the summary screen and select Continue.

VAT is usually added straight away — unlike Corporation Tax and PAYE, you generally do not have to wait for a code in the post. You should see VAT appear on your Business Tax Account dashboard.

A few things worth knowing

VAT is filed under Making Tax Digital, so once it is on your account you can see your returns, payment deadlines and balance. If your figures do not match what HMRC expects — a mistyped registration date is the usual culprit — the system will reject them, so copy them carefully from your certificate. And remember: adding VAT to your own account does not stop us filing your VAT returns as your agent. It simply gives you your own view of the position.

How MCC Partners can help

If anything does not match or you are unsure which figures to use, we can walk you through it. We look after VAT registration, returns and Making Tax Digital for businesses across Gravesend and the wider Kent area, and we will make sure your online access is set up correctly alongside ours.