The Ftax team are working on a low-cost MTD for IT solution to be launched April 2026. Contact us for further information.
The Ftax team are working on a low-cost MTD for IT solution to be launched April 2026. Contact us for further information.
As well as the onscreen receipt, two emails will confirm a successful submission. If these do not arrive please check your spam box as well as the email address entered on your tax return. One email will come directly from HMRC while the other will arrive via the Ftax server. This second email will have a ‘success’ attachment that can be read in a text editor and should be retained as proof of submission. Be sure you don’t submit an Amended return before you have successfully submitted a New return.
One way to double check you have submitted successfully is to submit again as New. If you have already submitted successfully then an error message will tell you so.
But most importantly, always check that your submissions have been accepted by logging in to your HMRC account at https://online.hmrc.gov.uk/home. There will be a two working day delay from the time you submit to when the website is updated.
It is your responsibility to ensure that the tax return has reached and been accepted by HMRC before the deadline.
No. It may look as if they have, but they haven’t. Please enter all of you payment details again and reselect your card type.
On the opening Ftax page then any section with an error or omission will be highlighted in yellow in the panel on the right.
Click on the section name to be taken to the location of the first error. If you then point at the yellow fields with your cursor a popup will explain the nature of the problem.
Return amendments can be submitted up to 12 months after the statutory filing date (at midnight on 31st January).
Amendments made more than 12 months after the online filing date should be submitted by paper.
Yes. The following HMRC recommendation is included in the ‘success’ file returned when a submission is successful:
“We strongly recommend that you keep this receipt electronically, and we advise that you also keep your submission electronically for your records. They are evidence of the information that you submitted to HMRC.”
Yes, you are able to save tax return data either to your computer (Export as xfdf) or to your Ftax Account (Export to account). Click the ‘Export’ button at the bottom of the opening page of your Ftax form and these options will be prompted.
If you select ‘Export to account’ the tax return data will be stored in the Ftax Record defined by the tax year, form, and UTR. This may be viewed in the Record after it is updated (this may take 5 minutes).
To import the data again select ‘Import/Import from account’. You will then be prompted to select from a dropdown list of users/clients, and asked to select the year you wish to import from. Importing from the previous year is a quick way to get this year’s tax return started. Importing from the current year (or in the case of the CT600, the tax year in which the Accounting Period ends) allows you to continue the completion of a return.
Yes, providing the licensing conditions of the Ftax package you have purchased permit this.
Ftax is a very intelligent pdf file which can be copied, moved, and renamed in the same way that any other file can.
This means that you can transfer a copy to another computer using a memory stick. Alternatively, you can simply download Ftax again from your Ftax Account to another computer.
We are not removing our old technical support email address immediately and if you do email us we will get help to you.
However, email is not a secure means of communicating and you should not send any personal information via email (for example, a completed tax form).
We also can’t guarantee the speed with which we will respond to your email.
Submitting a Support Request via this new support website is the fastest and most secure way to get help.
If you wish to continue using spreadsheets to prepare accounts then you can. The Ftax CT600 includes iXBRL Accounts tagging to convert your accounts data into iXBRL. Note: this is only included on the post 31st March 2015 ‘V3’ CT600 form, and is NOT included with the older ‘V2’ CT600.
Alternatively, you can use VT Final Accounts which will make it very easy for you to map the final accounting figures to the XBRL data standard to produce the iXBRL files.
Yes, both VT Software iXBRL Computations and iXBRL Accounts work well with the Ftax forms.
The following explains what the most common CT600 error messages mean and describes what to do:
“Code : 1607 Box Location : Computations : Information within the computations does not match that on the CT600”
This usually means that the Company Number in the iXBRL Accounts file does not exactly match the 8 digit Company Number in the CT600. To overcome the problem, add leading digits to the Company Number, e.g. 07654321, and then generate the iXBRL Accounts file again.
“Code : 3303 Box Location : Accounts : One of the Inline XBRL documents contains malformed xml. Please check the attachment and resubmit.”
“Code : 1605 Box Location : iXBRL : The attachment with the file name IR Format_1 is in an invalid format.”
One cause of this problem is the inclusion of a line featuring a DOCTYPE declaration, i.e. <..DOCTYPE …… >, near the start of the accounts file. Remove this line by opening the iXBRL Accounts file in a text editor (we recommend TextPad), deleting, and saving the file.
“Code : 3303 Box Location : Computations : One of the Inline XBRL documents contains malformed xml. Please check the attachment and resubmit.”
“Code : 1605 Box Location : iXBRL : The attachment with the file name IR Format_1 is in an invalid format.”
Both of these error messages are due to problems with the format of the iXBRL Computations file, and probably mean that you are not using the latest version of the Ftax CT600, or you are not using the Ftax iXBRL Computations. Transfer your data to the latest version and generate the iXBRL Computations file again. Never Open and then Save iXBRL files as this may add extraneous information.
If a ‘SOAPservice not recognised’ or similar error message is popping up then your computer has failed to connect to your Ftax Account at www.ftax.co.uk.
This may be due to communication being ‘Blocked’ caused by a lack of Internet access or the second part of the Special Notice not being complied with.
It may also occur when your computer does not trust the Ftax server.
Turning your computer off and on again sometimes overcomes this.
Also ensure that your computer does trust www.ftax.co.uk via Edit/Preferences/Trust Manager in the Reader menu bar, and that any security software on your computer or network trusts the Ftax server.
Also, click the ‘?’ in a red ball and select the top option to check you have complied with the second part of the Special Notice.
When you choose to print a form, the option you pick will determine which pages of the form are printed.
Sometimes, to print only the pages you have chosen, the form will send multiple small print ‘jobs’ to your printer (some only one page long).
So if, when you hit print, it looks like lots of different documents are being printed, don’t worry, its just different sections and pages being sent separately – you will find, once all have been printed, that you have the output you asked for.
This error is caused by the presence of an illegal character (one that is not allowed in the submission) somewhere within the tax form, often in a comment box.
Take a look through your form and remove anything unusual (i.e. not letters or numbers or standard punctuation) – for the SA900 the ‘£’ sign can be a problem. Also check any attachment filenames and remove any ‘&’ characters.
Sometimes these characters are not visible and have been entered when cut and pasting text or importing data. If this is the case then the quickest way forward is to download a new copy of the form and to complete it manually without using cut and paste or importing data.
Both the Ftax VAT and the Ftax Cashbook packages enable the submission of VAT returns to HMRC in an MTD compliant manner.
The Ftax Cashbook is a low cost ‘online accounting’ solution, and as such enables the input of income and expense details. This data is then used to calculate VAT reports ready for submission to HMRC.
The Ftax VAT package allows you to use your own VAT calculations made on your own spreadsheets. A .csv file, which can be created using any spreadsheet package, enables this data to be transferred to the Ftax VAT pdf form according with the principles of MTD. From there the VAT return is submitted to HMRC.
The Ftax VAT pdf form is in reality a cut-down version of the Ftax Cashbook pdf form, with the four cashbook pages disabled (Incomes, Expenses, Customers, and Suppliers).
Yes.
You can contact HMRC in relation to VAT in a range of ways listed on their website here.
In addition, HMRC have produced a range of guides and videos:
Videos available on HMRC’s help and support page:
No.
This should not be an issue for agents who have one HMRC Account featuring many clients.
But an individual may only purchase one Ftax MTD package year within any Ftax Account. For example, if an individual has 2 VAT registered companies and a VAT registered self-employment, then they will need to purchase each within their own Ftax Account. Subsequent year forms may be purchased within the same Ftax Accounts.
In summary, only one HMRC User ID for an MTD account may be used within one Ftax Account.
Important: The role of the Business Tax Account (BTA)
Important: The client list cannot be viewed from within the ASA however you are now able to view the number of client relationship copied over from HMRC online services.
Important: Once signed up returns must be submitted using MTD compatible software. You cannot use the previous channel.
Important: For an Agent, when connecting software to HMRC you must use your new ASA GG ID (provided at step 1). If you attempt to log in with another GG ID our systems will not be able to recognise the MTD relationship with your client so you will receive an error message and be unable to file the return.
For more information on Making Tax Digital go to GOV.UK and type ‘Making Tax Digital for VAT’ into the search bar
No. There are several ways the Ftax MTD forms may be used:
Step 1: Visit https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/vat-through-software/sign-up/software-ready. Click ‘Yes’, (as all of the Ftax (MTD) VAT packages or the Ftax (MTD) Cashbook packages submit VAT through MTD), and then ‘Continue’.
Step 2 : Click ‘Sign up’, enter your Government Gateway credentials, and then click ‘Sign in’. Once signed up to use MTD you cannot return to the previous method to submit VAT. If your business is not yet eligible to join, a message will appear to advise this.
If your business pays by Direct Debit then you need to sign up at least 7 working days before you need to submit.
Step 3: Follow the on-screen prompts and provide any requested information, including your email address.
Step 4: When you receive a verification email, click the link to verify your email address. Read and accept the terms of participation. HMRC will then confirm if you can start submitting VAT Returns under MTD. This confirmation usually occurs within 24 hours.
You must wait for the confirmation email from HMRC before to attempt to use the MTD software.
If you do not recieve a confirmation email from HMRC After 72 hours, you should report this to HMRC.
Step 5: After purchasing an Ftax MTD VAT package you must authorise the Ftax service to submit VAT returns using MTD. This is done by first logging into your Ftax Account and selecting the ‘Click here to Authorise Ftax’ link. You should then be prompted to ‘Continue’, to log into to your HMRC account using your existing Government Gateway User ID and password, and to click a ‘Grant authority’ button.
HMRC recently answered this question in the following manner:
Will customers receive penalties for not filing MTD returns or keeping digital records?
Not yet. The government has confirmed a light touch approach to penalties in the first year of implementation for MTD VAT. Where businesses are doing their best to comply, no filing or record keeping penalties will be issued. However, customers must continue to pay their VAT obligations on time, as late payment penalties will still apply.
MTD Developer Update: April 2019
The most likely reason far a Communication Error:”SOAPservice is undefined” when logging in to your account from an Ftax form is that your version of Windows is not using the correct TLS (Transport Layer Security) version.
Ftax forms require TLS 1.2 to be available for use.
TLS settings are handled via the Advanced tab of the Internet Properties (or Internet Options) dialogue box.
To open the Internet Properties (or Internet Options), press the start button and start typing Internet Properties (or Internet Options) and Windows will show you the control panel to open.
Once open, click the Advanced tab at the top:
Please make sure that your system has TLS 1.2 version ticked, click the OK (or Apply) button and try again.
Exactly how this is done depends on the type of spreadsheet you are using. Examples are given below:
The VAT report can be laid out on the new worksheet with a header and data to the left of the 9 VAT values. But there must be no data to the right of any of the 9 values.
Yes, provided you first export the VAT report from Sage as a .csv file.
After setting up the Ftax VAT form (see video for details) go to the VAT page and click the red ‘Import VAT Report’ button. Select the ‘.csv’ option and browse to select the Sage VAT report .csv file. The data should be immediately imported and put into the correct format ready to submit to HMRC.
VAT reports from other accounting applications can also be imported into the Ftax VAT form provided they can be exported as a .csv file. You can also generate the .csv file using your own spreadsheets (see the FAQ ‘How do I export my VAT report from my spreadsheet as a .csv file?’).
If the VAT report .csv data fails to import, please send a sample via Ftax Support on the Ftax website. The Ftax team should be able to adjust the form such that the data can be imported successfully.