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Case study 1

Poshlayer Ltd: a first VAT return, from a standing start

A design and software studio, registered for VAT from 13 August 2026 with monthly returns. Its first return covered 13 August to 30 September. Nothing had been entered anywhere: the records were bank statements, card statements, an export and a mailbox.

  • 2 daysfrom a box of statements to nine boxes
  • 24 daysearly: filed 14 Oct, due 7 Nov
  • £1,157.32back from HMRC on the first return
  • 98VAT invoices read from 37 orders

What came in

  • The company bank account, connected read-only by the director
  • The director's own bank and credit card statements, for what he paid for the company
  • A PayPal export, and the supplier invoices in the company's mailbox
  • Four downloads of marketplace invoices, every order covered by its invoices

What came out

The nine boxes, every figure traced to a document, and a file of bills the director imported into his accounting software. He checked the return there, made the declaration and filed it on 14 October. It matched Poshtax's figures box for box.

  • Box 1£72.90
  • Box 4£1,230.22
  • Box 5£1,157.32 to reclaim

What it found on the way

  • Refunds netted first

    Charges later refunded in full or in part were netted before any figure was worked out, so nothing refunded was claimed.

  • Before registration, only what still counts

    Monthly subscriptions bought before the registration date were used up in their month, so they came out of the pre-registration claim. The company formation cost stayed in.

  • Part-funded invoices claimed in proportion

    Forty-six marketplace invoices were partly paid by the marketplace itself. The VAT was claimed on what the company paid: £273.06, not the £294.50 the invoices show.

  • Services from abroad, both sides

    Software and computing bought from overseas suppliers went through the reverse charge: £72.90 in Box 1 and the same in Box 4, so nothing to pay and nothing lost.

  • Two orders held back, then chased

    Two orders came with an order page, not a VAT invoice. Their £38.08 was left off the first return and both suppliers were asked, in the company's name. One sent a VAT invoice, the other its VAT registration number, and the £38.08 goes on the next return.

  • Private stays private

    Most lines on the director's own statements are his, not the company's. Only business lines entered the records; the rest was never listed.

Since then

October's return is open and filling as the month goes: supplier invoices are picked up from the mailbox each morning, and the director hears 30, 14, 7, 3 and 1 days before every date. The HMRC receipt for the first return is kept with the period's working papers.

Case study 2

Hardman London Ltd: a new company, every date known from day one

A clothing company, formed on 18 August 2026, owned by the same parent as Poshlayer Ltd. Registered for corporation tax, not for VAT. Its first year is the one where dates are easiest to miss, because none of them has come round before.

Tue 31 Aug 2027 First confirmation statement made up to 17 Aug 2027
Thu 18 May 2028 First accounts, to 31 Aug 2027 filed at Companies House
Thu 18 May 2028 Corporation tax payment 18 Aug 2026 to 17 Aug 2027
Thu 1 Jun 2028 Corporation tax payment 18 Aug to 31 Aug 2027
Thu 17 Aug 2028 Company tax return 18 Aug 2026 to 17 Aug 2027
Thu 31 Aug 2028 Company tax return 18 Aug to 31 Aug 2027

Read from Companies House and worked out by the rules, two years ahead.

What it found on the way

  • One set of accounts, two tax periods

    The first accounts run from 18 August 2026 to 31 August 2027, more than twelve months. Corporation tax splits that into two periods, each with its own payment date and its own return. Both are on the watch.

  • The first confirmation statement, drafted ten months early

    Prepared from the public register, with every point the director must check marked. It flagged that control passed to the parent company on the day the company was formed, so the share transfer has to be in the register of members before the statement names the shareholder.

  • The VAT threshold, watched

    The company is not registered for VAT. Its taxable sales over any rolling twelve months are watched against the £90,000 threshold, so registration is never a surprise.

  • Its sister company counts

    It shares a parent with Poshlayer Ltd, so the two are associated companies and the corporation tax profit limits are divided between them. The figures are worked out that way from the start.

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