As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly calculate partial VAT exemption for your UK business.

What to actually do

1. Hand it to a person

   The route this page recommends

   Someone with a licence or accountable authority has to sign this before it counts.

2. Use a tool built for this

   Second choice

3. Do it yourself

   The distant third

   A chat interface, power-user skill, and roughly 1 hour until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Open your VAT account, VAT returns, sales reports, purchase ledger and relevant invoices for the VAT period, then export the figures to a spreadsheet.
   2. Mark each supply as taxable, zero-rated, exempt or outside the scope, and mark each input VAT amount as directly attributable or residual using the underlying invoices and your current VAT treatment.
   3. Record the VAT scheme, partial exemption method, capital goods information, previous provisional figures and any special method correspondence in a separate notes sheet.
   4. Paste the completed spreadsheet figures and notes into the prompt, attach the working file if the chatbot accepts files, and ask it to show every formula and identify missing information.
   5. Compare the AI table line by line with the VAT account, invoices, ledger totals and previous returns, correcting any source mismatch before accepting the arithmetic.
   6. Send the working paper and its list of questions to a UK VAT accountant or chartered accountant, and use their confirmed treatment before preparing or amending the VAT return.

   Prompt

   Calculate a UK VAT partial exemption working paper from the data below. This is not professional advice and must not be used as the final basis for a VAT return without review by a UK VAT accountant or chartered accountant.
   
   Use only the figures and facts I provide. Do not invent figures, assumptions or transactions. First list any missing information that could change the result. Separate taxable, zero-rated, exempt and outside-the-scope supplies, and separate input VAT that is directly attributable from residual input VAT. State the partial exemption method you are applying and flag any need for a special method, de minimis test, annual adjustment or other HMRC treatment rather than deciding it silently. Show each formula, intermediate figure, rounding choice and final result in pounds. Produce a table that I can reconcile to my VAT records, and identify which figures must be checked against invoices, the VAT account and prior returns. Cite the relevant GOV.UK or HMRC guidance by title and link where you can, and mark any point that needs professional confirmation.
   
   Business and VAT period: [insert]
   VAT scheme and partial exemption method currently used: [insert]
   Taxable supplies: [insert figures and evidence]
   Exempt supplies: [insert figures and evidence]
   Outside-the-scope supplies: [insert figures and evidence]
   Directly attributable input VAT: [insert figures]
   Residual input VAT: [insert figures]
   Capital goods or other adjustments: [insert details]
   Previous provisional or annual adjustment information: [insert]
   Source records and notes: [paste or attach]
   
   Finish with a concise list titled "Questions for my VAT accountant". Do not tell me to file or amend a VAT return until the calculation and treatment have been reviewed.

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.