VAT: transactions, returns, filing and groups

Interactive tutorial

Follow the course step by step in the interactive player.

Lessons

1. 1Tour of Tax Intelligence for VATThis lesson is for everyone who works on value added tax, or VAT: the tax manager and the accountant. You will learn where each part of the VAT work lives in Tax Intelligence, before any data has been entered: the workflow strip, the counters, the five groups and their tabs, the extra tools and the Filing Tracker.6 min
2. 2Set up VAT for the entity: filing frequency, TRN and EmirateThis lesson is for the tax manager. You will enter the entity's VAT registration details once, before any return is prepared: the filing frequency the tax authority assigned, the tax registration number, the registration date and the Emirate. Then you will see how the filing frequency changes the periods offered on the VAT Return tab.5 min
3. 3Import a quarter's sales and purchases from a spreadsheetThis lesson is for the accountant. You will bring a quarter's sales and purchases into Tax Intelligence in one go from a spreadsheet, read the preview before anything is saved, see which row was left out and why, and then find the imported rows with the filters above the list.7 min
4. 4Add one transaction by hand, field by fieldThis lesson is for the accountant. You will type in a single purchase invoice from a supplier outside the United Arab Emirates and learn what every field of the Add Transaction form is for: the type, the net amount, the original currency and exchange rate, the date, the description, the supplier, the invoice number, the reverse charge tick box, the related party loan purpose and the attached receipt.7 min
5. 5Classify transactions and read the resultThis lesson is for the accountant and the tax manager. You will ask the app to classify the quarter's transactions, first only the rows that match a filter and then all the rest, and you will learn to read what it decided: the VAT treatment, the confidence, the status and the reasoning behind each row.8 min
6. 6Edit a transaction: description, date, reverse charge and EmirateThis lesson is for the accountant. You will correct two transactions that are already in the list. On an imported software purchase you will fix the description and the date and mark it as reverse charge. On a sale delivered in another Emirate you will set the Emirate, so the sale is reported in the right box of the return.6 min
7. 7Review the classifications: approve and overrideThis lesson is for the tax manager, the person who approves or corrects what the AI suggested. You will open the Review Queue, read a suggestion and approve it. Then you will find a suggestion that is wrong and override it, giving the correct VAT treatment and your reason, and approve the reverse charge purchase.9 min
8. 8Sign off several classifications at once in the Sign-off cockpitThis lesson is for the tax manager. When many AI suggestions are waiting, approving them one card at a time is slow. You will open the Sign-off cockpit, read the AI's reasoning, select the suggestions you agree with and approve them together, as their reviewer.4 min
9. 9Record a credit note and watch the return changeThis lesson is for the accountant. A customer returned damaged goods from the September wholesale order, and a credit note was issued for part of that sale. You will compute the return first, import the credit note as a negative row, classify it straight from the import window, see it take the treatment of the invoice it names, and compute the return again to see the box of the original sale go down.7 min
10. 10Attach the documents behind your transactionsThis lesson is for the accountant. The tax authority expects a document behind the treatment of a transaction: a tax invoice for a purchase whose VAT is reclaimed, proof of export for a zero rated sale. You will see how the list shows which rows still need a document, attach a document to one row, read the check the app runs on it, use Bulk Evidence for several files at once, and see how the VAT return reminds you.6 min
11. 11Classification rules, learning from history and the vendor directoryThis lesson is for the tax manager. You will give the app standing instructions, so that recurring transactions are classified the same way every time. You will add a classification rule for a regular supplier, see where the app learns from past filings, build the vendor directory from the transactions, record that a supplier is abroad, and record the checks you made on a supplier.8 min
12. 12Compute the VAT return and read every boxThis lesson is for the accountant who prepares the return, and for the tax manager who reviews it. You will compute the VAT return for July to September 2026 from the approved transactions and read it box by box, so you can explain where every figure comes from before anyone files it.9 min
13. 13Check the return, download it and find its deadlineThis lesson is for the accountant who prepares the return. You will run the two checks on the computed return, download the return as a PDF, the package of files and the Excel workpaper, look at the advance deposit tool, and then open the Filing Tracker to see the deadline that the computed return created.7 min
14. 14Review the VAT workpaper and tie it to the returnThis lesson is for the tax manager who reviews the return before it is filed, and for anyone who hands working papers to an auditor. You will open the VAT workpaper for the quarter, check that the transactions listed add up to every box of the return, read the lists behind each box, download the workpaper in Excel, and export the transactions with their VAT treatment.8 min
15. 15Who can file a return: rights and the approval policyThis lesson is for the organisation administrator, and for the tax team who want to understand the rule they work under. You will open the Access tab inside Tax Intelligence, read who can view, create, edit and approve tax records for the entity, and read the approval policy that decides who may file a VAT return. You will not change anything: the standard policy is the one Meridian Souq uses.7 min
16. 16File the return as the checker with Submit and LockThis lesson is for the tax manager, who is the checker for the return the accountant prepared. After the return has been filed on the tax authority's portal, you will open it from its deadline, check it, and record the filing with Submit and Lock: attach the acknowledgement, give the reference and lock the period. The next lesson shows what the lock changed.8 min
17. 17After filing: the frozen period, the closed deadline and the packageThis lesson is for the tax manager. The return for July to September 2026 has been submitted and locked. You will see what that changed: the return reads Filed and its transactions are frozen, the deadline is marked as filed in the Filing Tracker, the filed package is kept with its acknowledgement, and the page for corrections is ready if one is ever needed. You will also see where deadline reminders are set.7 min
18. 18Draft a voluntary disclosure to correct a filed returnThis lesson is for the compliance officer, who in the demo company is the person allowed to create voluntary disclosures. After a return is filed and locked, an error can only be corrected by a voluntary disclosure, the tax authority's Form 211. You will link a disclosure to the filed return, enter the corrected figure, give the reason, and save it as a draft.6 min
19. 19VAT groups: register a group, add its members and compute its returnThis lesson is for the organisation administrator. A VAT group is two or more companies that the tax authority has registered as one taxable person, with one tax registration number and one return. You will register the group in the organisation settings, choose the member that files for the group, assign both entities to it, and compute the group's consolidated return for a quarter.6 min
20. 20What the accountant can and cannot do in VATThis lesson is for accountants, and for managers who decide who gets which role. Signed in as the accountant, you will see where the role stops: the VAT set-up can be read but not saved, the access view is closed, filed transactions are locked, and corrections and VAT groups belong to other roles. You will also delete a transaction you entered by mistake, which the accountant can do while a period is open.7 min
21. 21How this connects: the calendar, the Evidence Vault and sanctions screeningThis lesson is for the compliance officer, and for tax staff who want to know where their work shows up elsewhere. The VAT work of this course left traces in three other parts of ComplianceOS. You will find the filing deadline in the Compliance Calendar, the filing acknowledgement in the Evidence Vault, and the screening of the imported customers and suppliers against sanctions lists.7 min

How this connects to the rest of ComplianceOS

• Sanctions screening

  The customer and supplier names on imported and typed tax transactions are screened against the sanctions lists automatically and listed under AML/CFT, Screening.

• Filing Tracker and Compliance Calendar

  Computing a VAT return creates its filing deadline, 28 days after the period ends. Submitting and locking the return marks the deadline Filed in the tracker and Completed in the calendar.

• Evidence Vault

  The acknowledgement attached at Submit and Lock and the documents attached to transactions are sealed in the vault with a seven year tax retention, beside records the app writes itself when a return is computed and when a classification is approved or overridden.

• Access control and approvals

  Roles decide who can enter, approve and file. The approval policy for filing a return, shown on the Access tab of Tax Intelligence, keeps the person who computed a return from also filing it.

• Corporate tax

  Classifying a transaction sets its corporate tax category at the same time as its VAT treatment; the category is the Classification column of the same list.