HMRC and Making Tax Digital

Making Tax Digital (MTD) is HMRC's programme for keeping records and filing digitally. Kontala files through HMRC's own APIs: VAT returns under Making Tax Digital for VAT, and RTI payroll submissions from Payroll.

How the connection works

You authorise Kontala once, by signing in to HMRC on HMRC's own website - see Connect Kontala to HMRC. Kontala never sees your Government Gateway password, and the access tokens HMRC issues are stored encrypted.

You can withdraw the authorisation at any time: open the account menu, choose Integrations, and select Disconnect on the HMRC Making Tax Digital card.

What HMRC sees when you file VAT

When you submit a VAT return, HMRC receives:

• your VAT registration number,
• the nine box totals of the return, not your individual transactions, and
• the anti-fraud header data HMRC requires from all MTD software, such as device, browser, and connection details.

Kontala also reads your VAT obligations from HMRC, which is how the app knows which periods are open to file.

Your records stay digital

Every figure on a return links back to the invoices, bills, expenses, and bank transactions behind it - see How your VAT return is calculated. Once filed, the return is locked as a permanent record.