This section is for a business or individual submitting their own Making Tax Digital (MTD) returns to HMRC. If you are an agent submitting clients' MTD returns through your agent services account, see Grant authority: agents.
Introduction
You need to grant authority to HMRC to communicate with the software.
You can grant authority for MTD for Income Tax and/or MTD for VAT. The process is the same, as shown below.
Once you have granted authority as shown below, it is saved to the VT file and lasts for 18 months.
Sign up to MTD
Before granting authority you need to be signed up to MTD with HMRC for the relevant tax(es):
•If granting authority for MTD for Income Tax: To sign up, follow the instructions in Sign up to MTD for Income Tax: Individuals.
•If granting authority for MTD for VAT: If you are VAT registered you will already be signed up for MTD for VAT.
The process below is the same whether you use VT Transaction+, VT Cash Book, VT MTD for Excel or VT Report, unless otherwise stated.
Authority is saved to the VT file, so it is beneficial to submit all your VAT returns and/or Income Tax quarterly updates from the same file so you only have to grant authority once every 18 months.
In the VT file for the business:
1.Open the grant authority dialog (the method depends on which VT program you are using):
•VT Transaction+ or VT Cash Book: Select MTD > Taxpayer > Grant authority
•VT Report: Select Taxpayer > Grant authority
•VT MTD for Excel: Select Add-ins > VT MTD > Taxpayer > Grant authority
Note: To activate the Taxpayer menu in VT Report, you need to be in an MTD template (Application > Create a new file based on a template) or set a sheet as an MTD type (Sheet > Type (for MTD) > [Select a tax type])
2.Click on Grant authority to VT (Do not tick 'I'm using my Agent Services Account for this client'.):
3.Tick the VAT box then click OK:
(If you want to submit both VAT returns and income tax quarterly updates, tick both boxes, even if you have previously granted authority for either one.)
4.The following page then opens in your web browser (If this page does not open, see Grant authority errors.):
If you have also ticked Income tax in step 3, you will also see the following text on this page:
•View your Self Assessment information
•Change your Self Assessment information
Click on Continue.
5.Click Sign in to the HMRC online service:
6.Select Government Gateway then Continue:
(Do not select GOV.UK One Login as this service does not currently cover MTD for VAT or MTD for Income Tax)
7.Enter the government gateway user ID and password for your business tax account and select Sign in:
If you cannot find this ID, search for 'Government Gateway user ID' in your emails. Alternatively, select 'I have forgotten my Government Gateway user ID' from the sign in screen and follow the instructions given. If necessary, you may need to contact HMRC.
Note: If you are granting authority for both MTD for VAT and MTD for Income Tax, both taxes must be on the same government gateway login. If you have separate government gateway IDs for income tax and for VAT, you will need to add one of the taxes to the government gateway for the other tax - see the section 'Adding or cancelling a tax' in the HMRC guidance: Using your business tax account.
8.Select how you want to receive the security access code and click Continue:
9.Enter the access code where indicated and click Continue:
10.The following page appears:
(If you have also ticked Income tax in step 3, you will also see the following text on this page:
•View your Self Assessment information
•Change your Self Assessment information)
Click Give permission:
11.Click Copy:
12.Go back into the VT application where you granted authority, by clicking on its icon on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen:
•VT Transaction+
•VT Cash Book
•VT Report:
•VT MTD for Excel
13.You should then see the following dialog. Click Paste then OK:
(If you cannot see this dialog, open the Grant Authority dialog as described in step 1, and click on I have just granted authority and want to enter the authorisation code.)
The following message appears, which confirms that you have successfully granted authority:
How authorisation codes are stored
Once you have carried out the steps above, the authority is saved to the file and lasts for 18 months. Therefore, you only need to re-grant authority if you use a different file or when the authority expires. The software will notify you when authority has expired and prompt you to re-grant authority.
You can cancel the authority at any time by clicking on the Forget authority caption in the Grant Authority dialog.
See also:
