When to read this
You're preparing a quarterly or annual VAT return and need a clean summary of your input VAT (what you paid suppliers) and output VAT (what you charged customers) broken out by rate. The VAT view is the right surface in TaxItEasy for that summary. This article walks through what it shows, how to interpret the numbers, and the edge cases where the view's output needs human judgment before filing.
For the underlying multi-currency conversion that feeds the VAT view, see multi-currency and live ECB rates. For exporting the same data, see export your records for year-end.
How to open it
Invoices → VAT view in the left navigation. Also accessible from the dashboard quick-actions ("VAT for last quarter" / "VAT for this month").
Pick a period:
- Monthly — current month, previous month, or any specific month
- Quarterly — for most EU VAT return cycles (Q1 / Q2 / Q3 / Q4)
- Yearly — for annual returns where applicable
- Custom — any from/to date range
The view recomputes from your invoices on each load. Computation is fast (sub-second for a typical year's data); no caching of stale aggregates.
What you see
A grouped table with two top-level sections:
Input VAT (Vorsteuer / VAT on purchases)
VAT you paid on supplier invoices — the VAT you can typically deduct from what you'd otherwise owe. For each VAT rate (0%, 7%, 19%, 20%, 21%, 22%, 23%, …): count of invoices in that rate, total net amount, total VAT amount, total gross amount, all in your base currency.
Rates appear in the view only if you have at least one invoice at that rate in the chosen period. So a period with only 19% and 7% invoices shows just those two rows; a period spanning multiple countries shows all the rates touched.
Output VAT (Umsatzsteuer / VAT on sales)
VAT you charged on customer invoices — the VAT you've collected on behalf of the tax authority. Most TaxItEasy users only have input VAT (the app is primarily for receiving invoices); output VAT appears only if you're issuing invoices via TaxItEasy.
Per-rate breakdown identical to input VAT.
VAT balance
Output VAT minus input VAT. Positive = you owe to the tax authority for the period. Negative = you have a refund coming (or carry-forward credit, depending on your country's rules).
The balance is your headline number when filing — most VAT return forms ask for exactly this figure.
Multi-currency handling
Amounts are summed in your base currency, using the per-invoice ECB-rate conversions (see multi-currency and live ECB rates). A USD invoice converted at the invoice-date EUR/USD rate contributes the EUR equivalent to the aggregate.
The original currency is still visible if you click through to the underlying invoice list — the VAT view aggregates, but the source data stays per-currency.
This matters for tax filing: most EU tax authorities expect base-currency totals on the VAT return, with ECB rates as the conversion source. The view's totals match that expectation.
What the view does NOT do
The VAT view is a reference summary, not a filing tool. Specifically:
- It doesn't file your VAT return. It shows you the numbers; you (or your accountant) submit to the tax authority through their official portal (ELSTER for Germany, Revenue Online for Ireland, AT-VAT for Austria, etc.).
- It doesn't decide what's deductible. Every invoice with a VAT rate is included in input VAT. If you marked an invoice non-deductible at upload (
Settings → Invoice → Mark non-deductible), it's excluded from the aggregate. The "marked non-deductible" filter happens before aggregation, not after. - It doesn't handle EU-special cases automatically. Reverse charge, OSS / MOSS for digital services, distance-selling thresholds — these need manual review. The mechanics are explained below.
- It doesn't validate against your tax-authority's expected return. If the view says €12,500 and your tax authority's system expects €12,500 ± 0.01, you'd file the view's number. If there's a discrepancy, it's a data-quality issue at the invoice level, not a view-level computation error.
EU special cases
Reverse charge (intra-EU B2B)
Invoices marked with reverse charge appear in the view with VAT 0% in the input VAT section, plus a separate "Reverse-charge purchases" line below the rates breakdown. Most VAT returns require this to be reported separately — the view surfaces it specifically.
If you receive an invoice from another EU member state that should be reverse-charge but the supplier didn't tag it, edit the invoice to add the reverse-charge marker; the next view refresh will move it to the correct line.
OSS / MOSS (digital services to EU consumers)
For sellers of digital services to consumers in other EU countries, OSS (One-Stop-Shop, post-2021) handles VAT registration centrally rather than per member state. The VAT view shows OSS-tagged invoices in a separate "OSS sales" line in the output VAT section. Tag invoices at upload (Settings → Invoice → OSS scheme) for the view to categorise them correctly.
Distance-selling thresholds
For physical-goods sellers crossing the €10,000 EU distance-selling threshold, separate per-destination-country reporting is required. The view doesn't auto-split by destination today; for now, manually filter the invoice list by destination country and use the resulting aggregate. Auto-split is on the 2026 roadmap.
Exporting the view
Two paths:
- JSON export of the same period (
Settings → Export) includes the aggregation data alongside the raw invoices. The aggregates are re-derived on the receiving side from the raw data if needed. - CSV export of the VAT view specifically is on the same 2026 roadmap as general CSV export — see CSV and PDF export status. Until it ships, copy the aggregates by hand into your tax-return form, or use the Power Query workaround on the JSON.
For a tax-advisor working across multiple clients, see bulk export as a tax advisor; the multi-client ZIP includes per-client VAT aggregations.
Troubleshooting
VAT total in the view differs from what my accountant filed. Most likely one of: (1) an invoice with a wrong VAT rate (e.g. extracted as 7% but should be 19%) — drill into the per-rate breakdown to spot; (2) a missing invoice you forgot to upload — compare invoice count to your bank statement; (3) the period boundaries (invoice date vs upload date) differ between you and your accountant; (4) a marked-non-deductible invoice you've forgotten about. Click into the per-rate breakdown to see the underlying invoices.
I want to export the VAT view. JSON export of the period includes the aggregate (Settings → Export). CSV-format export of the VAT view specifically is on the 2026 roadmap — see CSV and PDF export status.
My business is in a country with a different VAT system (UK post-Brexit, Switzerland, Norway). The view handles any VAT rate you have on your invoices. The AI extracts rates from documents in EN/DE/FR/IT/ES/NL/PL with high confidence; rates printed in other languages still work but may need manual confirmation. For non-EU users the per-rate aggregation works for whatever sales tax / VAT rates apply locally — Swiss MwSt, UK VAT, Norwegian merverdiavgift all aggregate the same way.
I get OSS / MOSS notifications about EU digital sales. Track those invoices with the OSS scheme marker (Settings → Invoice → OSS scheme); the view auto-categorises them in the OSS sales line. Your accountant filters by that line when filing the OSS return.
The view shows VAT at the rounded rate (19%) but my invoice has rate 19.0%. Display rounds for readability; underlying data keeps full precision. If an invoice has rate 19.00% and another has 19.01% (unusual but possible from rounding in vendor systems), they'd group separately in the view. Edit either to match if they're meant to be the same.
Net + VAT in the aggregate doesn't equal gross by a few cents. Rounding accumulates across many invoices. Per-invoice the math is consistent; the aggregate's net + VAT can differ from aggregate gross by small rounding amounts when summed over hundreds of invoices. Tax authorities expect this and have their own rounding conventions; the discrepancy is usually fine.
Marked-non-deductible invoices aren't appearing in input VAT — is that right? Yes, by design. If you marked an invoice non-deductible (it's a private expense, a non-business meal, etc.), it's excluded from the deductible-VAT aggregate. To include such invoices in a separate non-deductible-VAT report, run a JSON export filtered to non-deductible status and aggregate locally; a dedicated UI surface is on the backlog.
Related
- Export your records for year-end — the underlying JSON export
- Multi-currency and live ECB rates — what drives the base-currency aggregation
- VAT reverse charge for EU businesses — billing-side reverse-charge for your TaxItEasy subscription
- CSV and PDF export status — exporting the view itself