Set up advance sales tax return

Owned by Peter Schöll
Last updated: Nov. 05, 2024
4 min read

Validity of values and change of year

If you make changes, these initially apply to the forms for the calendar year in question.

Scopevisio makes the new VAT form available at the start of the new calendar year (usually at the end of January). The individual settings from the previous year are adopted once.

Changes that you make in a 2024 form in May 2024 will also be visible in the new form for 2025 in January 2025, but also apply to corrected declarations for January 2024.
Changes that you make in a 2023 form in May 2024 only apply to (corrected) declarations for 2023. Declarations from 2024 onwards do not take the change into account.

From the booking to the advance VAT return

The data of a booking can be included in the advance VAT return in three ways.

  • The revenue account can determine the assessment basis for sales (revenue).

  • The tax key can determine the assessment basis for sales (revenue).

  • For input tax, the input tax account can provide the tax.

The significance of the tax key as a means of saving work when entering bookings must be separated from its possible significance for the preparation of the advance VAT return (USTVA).

In the Scopevisio application, there is no direct link between the tax code and the statement in the VAT return.

In the following, several examples will be used to illustrate how the correct position in the VAT form can be determined through appropriate configuration during posting. The account numbers mentioned refer to SKR03 / SKR04, any information on the VAT return refers to the form structure for 2023.

Please go to Finance > VAT in the menu and select Open advance return for a month (here January 2023) in the overview.

Use the assignment to determine how the values of the selected line are determined.

Assignment to the advance return for sales tax - revenue

Now select the line for "Taxable sales at a tax rate of 19%" and click on Edit assignment.

The form for assigning an individual pre-announcement line consists of the following areas

  • Position,

  • Assessment basis and

  • tax.

While the item only references the indicator, we define how the value is to be determined in the tax base area.
If a line with an account is entered in the table, the balance of the account for the VAT period is added to the tax base.

Any tax keys used are not taken into account! Useful applications arise, for example, for non-taxable or tax-free revenue postings.

The "Other income" account is deliberately a bad example, as the balance is used regardless of the actual tax situation. For revenues, it is recommended that the tax base is determined exclusively using tax keys and that the account area is left blank.

In a second step, all line amounts are then also balanced with the values assigned in the tax key field. A normal posting line (exception: reverse charge) is only addressed once in the VAT return and the account-based assignment has priority.

In the example, the key U19 is listed. This means that all postings created with U19 that have not already been taken into account as part of an account assignment are also added to the value of code 81.

We recommend mapping the assessment basis in the revenue area exclusively via the assignment of the tax key if possible. Account allocation is still used in some cases if there is no revenue that is subject to VAT or sales tax (e.g. rental). However, you can also create more clarity here using keys with a 0% rate; the same applies to 13b revenue and tax keys such as ZM-SL or ZM-LIE.

The tax associated with the BMG is calculated in the lower part. For lines that provide for a fixed tax percentage, this is done via the Calculation setting. Reference the BMG indicator in the form (here: k81) and multiply by the percentage rate in the field: k81 * 19%.

For lines with different tax percentages, see the procedure for account assignment in the input tax area.

Assignment to the advance sales tax return - input tax

The balances of the input tax accounts are read for input tax, as no assessment basis is required. Set the radio button to Account assignment and add the corresponding input tax accounts. To illustrate this, you can open a corresponding line of the VAT form via Edit allocation.

The values assigned under Tax key with Select serve as an additional filter if you post several items to one account (e.g. all 13b input taxes to a single account).

Remember to explicitly allow the peudo key "-" if necessary, as this is the only way to ensure that direct tax postings without a tax key are not filtered out.

Reverse charge / intra-community acquisitions

If you enter a posting with a tax key that triggers both input tax and sales tax, these cases must be considered separately. The input tax is usually unproblematic, as the balance of the input tax account in question is read out.

Special advance payment 1/11

You also enter an account directly for the special advance payment for the permanent extension. The balance of the account is automatically taken into account in the December advance return.

With this method, you must not transfer the account balance until the December return!