Instant VAT Refunds

When a VAT-registered business has paid more VAT on purchases than it has collected from sales, the business can claim this difference back from HMRC. When the difference is paid back it is called a VAT refund.

Any VAT-registered business in the UK that has received at least 2 non-diluted VAT refunds before from HMRC and regularly or occasionally is in a VAT refund position is eligible for our Instant VAT Refunds service.

Every time you submit a VAT refund, you will receive your VAT refund instantly automatically. If you're a UK, VAT-registered business, click 'Get started' below to get your account set up. Then, the next time you submit a VAT refund (or if you've submitted one in the last hour) our TaxOS will notify us of your submission and we will then transfer the VAT refund (minus our 2-3% fee) to your chosen bank account within 60 minutes. During the transfer, we will take away your access to Government Gateway (but we can give it back as soon we receive the VAT refund from HMRC). To be eligible for Instant VAT Refunds, you must be a UK business, have received at least 2 VAT refunds from HMRC and have no outstanding returns with HMRC.

Just let us know **at least 24 hours before** you submit your VAT return so we can stop the process from running. Please email portal@adsum-works.com to alert us that you don’t want the refund from us this time.

HMRC will send the refund to Adsum, to reimburse us for sending it to you when your VAT return was submitted. They are able to do that because our account becomes the nominated payee account in your Government Gateway.

This access enables us to collect your VAT payment from HMRC. We know that’s not ideal but, based on current HMRC limitations, it’s the best way to make the process smooth and quick and keep our costs low! Your login credentials for your Government Gateway are held securely in an AWS-hosted database and cannot be accessed by anyone else.

Your login credentials for your Government Gateway are held securely in an AWS-hosted database and cannot be accessed by anyone else.

Since we need Administrator access and there can only be one Administrator on your Government Gateway account, you can become a ‘Standard’ user. So you still have access to it, but you’re sharing that access with us so that, as an ‘Administrator’ on your account, we can facilitate your instant VAT refunds.

You can become the ‘Administrator’ of your Government Gateway account again as soon as HMRC have paid back your VAT to Adsum. However, please note that Adsum needs to maintain ‘Administrator’ access to continue to offer you instant VAT refunds. You can maintain access as a 'Standard' user -- just let us know.

Please login to your Adsum account and tap on the link to ‘Revoke Adsum's access’. This will notify us that you would like your access back. If HMRC has paid back the VAT refund we sent you instantly then we will action your request immediately. If HMRC has not yet paid back the VAT refund we sent you instantly, then we will action your request as soon as the payment comes through.

Yes. Usually accountants access their clients’ Government Gateway via their accountant agency account, and this is not affected by Adsum being an ‘Administrator’ of your Government Gateway account.

The cost is 2-3% of your VAT refund, but you don’t pay it to us directly. We deduct it from your refund amount before we transfer your refund to you. Our fees are the same as other payment providers, e.g. Stripe. You can claim the VAT back on your next return.

We will handle all communication with HMRC to ensure a speedy resolution. Our goals are aligned with yours — to get your money back from HMRC as soon as possible. Please note that we may need to supply your sales and purchase invoices to HMRC if asked for them as part of the investigation. If this happens, we will let you know.

Adsum will deduct the shortfall from your next Instant VAT Refund.