Notice for Opera 3 users: operational issues have arisen following a recent update to the Making Tax Digital software. Although only a small fraction of the userbase is affected, it’s important to be aware of potential issues with your system.
Synergy Technology is here to help. If you’re experiencing problems, including any not listed below, please contact our knowledgeable team on 0345 456 0050 today.
HMRC has advised that there is currently an issue with the MTD VAT service affecting some users. Those users are either unable to submit their VAT Returns or are finding that previous VAT returns are incorrectly being regarded by HMRC as unsubmitted.
If the affected user has yet to submit their VAT return, and the MTD VAT Centre shows the expected VAT period as due for submission, they should submit their return as usual.
Known HMRC Issues within MTD
Error 9 “Data type mismatch” appears when trying to commit the VAT Return
If error 9 appears when trying to commit your VAT Return, you should update your Opera 3 system to version 2.60.12 or later. These versions contain an update to meet new HMRC requirements and enable successful submission.
After a successful MTD submission, the MTD VAT Centre displays the previous VAT period due for submission
After successfully submitting your VAT using the MTD VAT Centre, the previous VAT period may incorrectly remain. In this case, simply exit and reopen the MTD VAT Centre to refresh the next VAT period due.
It is possible that refreshing this data will not fix the issue and the previously submitted period will still appear. In this case, the error is related to HMRC’s back-end MTD VAT system. HMRC has announced that a fix is expected in mid-June 2019.
If this issue has occurred within your Opera 3 system, we advise contacting HMRC’s VAT Helpline and explaining that the issue is preventing the correct VAT Period from being generated, rendering it impossible to commit the next valid Tax Return.
The MTD VAT Centre fails to display the correct VAT period due for submission
For some users, the following warning message may appear: “An Open VAT Period could not be retrieved from HMRC so the VAT period dates will not be displayed.” This can result in no VAT period being displayed as the next period due for submission.
This error is also due to known issues within HMRC’s back-end MTD VAT system. Again, fix is expected in mid-June 2019.
We advise contacting HMRC’s VAT Helpline and explaining the situation, specifically that the software cannot obtain any ‘open’ obligation periods from the HMRC system.
Synergy Technology’s experts are on-hand to help you resolve any Opera 3 issues. Please don’t hesitate to contact us for assistance or additional information.
