FAQs
Does the purchase values in the VAT return remain constant from the beginning of the subsequent month in which the return is due?
The purchases values are updated every day as and when more invoices for the tax period are transmitted.
When you have missing purchases in the CSV and notify your supplier and they transmit the invoices, the CSV for the next day when downloaded will have been updated with these purchases.
Taxpayers are advised to download the most recent return when filing the VAT return to be able to access all the purchases to date.
What happens when the seller captures the buyer PIN wrongly or does not capture buyer PIN?
The seller should issue a credit note to reverse the sale, then reissue the invoice with the correct PIN to be claimed in the subsequent month by the buyer
What happens when the seller captured the PIN of buyer but transmitted invoices without the buyer PIN?
The seller should liaise with TIMS device supplier to resolve the configuration issue between TIMS device and the ERP system and then reissue and transmit the correct invoice with the buyer details.
What should I do when I forget to give my PIN details during a purchase?
Please contact the seller to issue a full credit note to reverse the sale, then issue a new invoice with correct PIN of buyer. It is only mandatory to issue the buyer PIN to the seller if the purchase is for business purposes and you intend to claim either in the Income Tax or VAT return.
How do I resolve the error “The PIN is not eligible for VAT input deduction”?
This means the supplier PIN is in the VAT Special Table hence you can’t claim input tax from them. You may advise the supplier to resolve their non - compliance issues and claim input in a subsequent period once they have removed from the special table.
Why are the invoices in the VAT return CSVs have a leading pipe character (|)?
This is to resolve issue of truncation of leading invoice numbers which are zeros mostly for TIMS invoices. On importing the CSV, the pipe disappears and only the actual invoice number remains.
Does the VAT return prepopulate sales and purchases invoices for the last 6 months
The return only provides CSVs for sales and purchases for the current tax period. However, you can still claim claim input tax for prior periods as long as the invoice was issued and transmitted through TIMS/ETIMS, VAT was charged ,PIN of the buyer was captured and invoice has not been claimed in a previous period.
In case I have both taxable and exempt sales, does the return apportion input tax automatically
The return does not apportion or disallow input tax automatically. Taxpayer can choose to disallow the purchase invoices by claiming a lower amount or disallowing the full amount by not claiming the invoice or use the apportionment formula fields in the VAT return tax due sheet.
How does the auto populated VAT return benefit taxpayers?
The new system reduces the manual effort in filing VAT returns by pre-filling information, ensuring compliance, and minimizing errors
