As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly claim VAT bad debt relief 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, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 1 hour until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Open the current VAT bad debt relief guidance on GOV.UK and save the page or link for the accountant who will check the work.
   2. Export the relevant sales invoices, VAT records, customer payment history, credit notes and accounting write-off evidence from your bookkeeping system.
   3. Put the records into a spreadsheet with one row per invoice and fill in the invoice date, VAT amount, payments, write-off date and VAT return period.
   4. Paste the spreadsheet data and the prompt above into a chatbot, then ask it to produce the invoice-by-invoice workpaper without filling missing fields by assumption.
   5. Compare every proposed amount and VAT period with the source invoices, bank entries, ledger write-off and current GOV.UK conditions, marking unsupported rows as insufficient information.
   6. Send the checked workpaper, source records and GOV.UK link to your accountant or UK VAT adviser, and use the final approved figures for the relevant VAT return or correction.

   Prompt

   Act as a UK VAT workpaper assistant, not my accountant. Using only the records and current GOV.UK guidance I provide, assess whether my business may be able to claim VAT bad debt relief. Do not submit a VAT return, state that the claim is definitely valid, invent missing facts, or rely on guidance you cannot verify as current.
   
   Business details:
   - Business type and VAT accounting scheme: [insert]
   - Relevant VAT period: [insert]
   - Accounting basis used: [insert]
   
   For each unpaid or partly paid invoice, provide:
   - Customer name or identifier: [insert]
   - Invoice date and number: [insert]
   - Date the VAT was accounted for: [insert]
   - Gross invoice amount: [insert]
   - VAT amount and VAT rate: [insert]
   - Amount paid and payment dates: [insert]
   - Date and evidence of write-off in the accounting records: [insert]
   - Credit notes, disputes, insolvency details or other relevant facts: [insert]
   
   Produce:
   1. A table matching each invoice to the current GOV.UK conditions for VAT bad debt relief.
   2. A separate list of missing evidence and assumptions.
   3. A calculation of the VAT amount that could potentially be adjusted, showing the formula and source figures.
   4. The VAT period and return box or accounting entry that may be relevant, only where supported by current GOV.UK guidance.
   5. A list of issues that need an accountant or UK VAT adviser to decide.
   6. A final status for each invoice: potentially eligible, not shown to be eligible, or insufficient information.
   
   Quote or link to the relevant GOV.UK guidance for every rule used. If the records conflict or a rule is unclear, say so and stop rather than guessing. End with: This is not professional advice. A UK accountant or VAT adviser must check this before I amend records or submit a VAT return.

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