Using a bank statement CSV to prepare sales tax, VAT and consumption tax returns

Published 19 October 2026 · by Tekiba

Quotations from the National Tax Agency are in the original Japanese, with an English summary beside them; the summary is ours, not an official translation.

What a bank line does not tell you

A deposit of 1,320.00 could be one sale with tax included, three sales at two rates, or a customer settling an old invoice less a bank charge. The statement does not say. The tax agencies treat the bank statement accordingly: as a record worth keeping, but not the evidence for the tax.

HMRC lists “bank statements and paying-in slips” among the business records it expects you to keep, and puts the invoice first for the tax you reclaim: “The VAT invoices you receive are the primary evidence for you to recover VAT you have incurred as input tax and you should make sure you keep them in a way that allows you to find them easily when asked.” The IRS says the same about expenses in general: “Proof of payment of an amount, by itself, does not establish you are entitled to a tax deduction.” Japan's general rule for deducting the tax on purchases needs both the books and the invoice: “課税仕入れ等に係る消費税額を控除するには、その事実を記載し、区分経理に対応した帳簿および事実を証する請求書等の両方を保存する必要があります。” (To deduct the tax on purchases, keep both books that record them by tax category and the invoices that prove them.) The same page lists exceptions where the books alone are enough, for purchases where an invoice is hard to obtain: “請求書等の交付を受けることが困難であると認められる次の取引（課税仕入れ）については、一定の事項を記載した帳簿のみの保存で仕入税額控除が認められます。” (for the transactions listed, where receiving an invoice is recognised as difficult, books with certain details are enough.) Check that list before giving up a deduction for want of an invoice.

What the CSV is good for

• Cutting the period. A return covers a fixed period and a statement rarely lines up with it. Filter the CSV by date to the return's first and last day, across as many statements as it takes.
• Sorting money in from money out. Receipts from customers point to sales; payments to suppliers point to purchases. Transfers between your own accounts, loans and owner's money are neither; mark them as such once you know what they are, and leave a receipt you cannot yet explain open rather than assume it is not a sale. A refund is different: match it to the sale or purchase it reverses and to the credit note behind it, because it can change the tax on that transaction. HMRC's cash accounting notice says a price change “must be evidenced by the issue of a credit or debit note.” and “Where a further payment or refund is then received or made, this should be recorded in your payment record as normal.”
• Finding the missing paperwork. Every payment to a supplier should have an invoice or receipt behind it. A line in the CSV with nothing behind it is a document to chase before the return, not after.
• Checking that what you invoiced was paid. Matching receipts against sales invoices shows what is still owed; matching invoices and receipts to bank statement CSV rows covers the steps.

Where the tax figures come from

The rate and the tax amount are on the invoice, and that is where the totals are built. Japan's National Tax Agency lists what a qualified invoice must state, including the registration number and the tax by rate: “①書類作成者の氏名または名称および登録番号 ②取引年月日 ③取引内容（軽減税率の対象品目である旨） ④税率ごとに区分して合計した税込対価（又は税抜対価）の額及び適用税率 ⑤税率ごとに区分した消費税額等　⑥書類の交付を受ける事業者の氏名または名称” (the issuer and registration number, the date, what was supplied, the total and rate for each rate, the tax for each rate, and the recipient). With two rates, sales and purchases have to be split by rate: “消費税の税率は、標準税率（10パーセント）と軽減税率（8パーセント）の複数税率であることから、売上げと仕入れを税率ごとに区分して税額計算を行う必要があります” (standard 10% and reduced 8%, so sales and purchases are split by rate). The same pages carry a notice of a change ahead: “令和9年4月1日から令和11年3月31日までの2年間、飲食料品の譲渡について、消費税率が引き下げられます。” (for two years from 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2029, the rate on sales of food and drink is lowered.)

In the UK the link between your records and the return is the VAT account: “A VAT account is the link (the audit trail) between your business records and your VAT Return.” Accounting software keeps it when each line carries a tax code. Intuit's UK help, on categorising bank lines: “Note: If your company has VAT enabled, select the appropriate VAT from the VAT column ▼ dropdown if it is not already selected.” Code each line from its invoice, not from a guess at the rate.

In the US, sales tax is a state matter, and the IRS's own example treats it as money passed on, not earned. In Publication 583's worked example a shop owner “cannot take a deduction for sales tax turned over to the state because he only collected the tax. He does not include the tax in his income.” Your state's revenue department sets the return, the rates and the period.

When the bank date matters

Under the usual rules, tax follows the invoice, and the bank line only shows when it was settled. Cash accounting turns that round. Under HMRC's Cash Accounting Scheme you “pay VAT on your sales when your customers pay you” and “reclaim VAT on your purchases when you have paid your supplier”. Notice 700/21 says when a sale counts: “The time of supply is the date you must declare output tax on. This is generally when you send a VAT invoice or, if you’re on cash accounting, when you receive payment for the supply.”

What counts as the day you were paid depends on how. HMRC's notice on the scheme: “For the purposes of the scheme, the date you're paid depends on your customer's payment method.” For a transfer, standing order or direct debit it is the bank's date: “the date your bank account is credited with the payment”. For a card it is not: “If you are paid by credit or debit card: you receive payment on the date you make out a sales voucher for the payment (not when you actually receive payment from the card provider).” Cheques have rules of their own in the same notice.

So on cash accounting, a transfer credited the day after the period ends belongs to the next return, while a card sale made on the last day belongs to this one even though the money arrives later. Match card settlements back to the sales they pay for, and use the CSV's date column for the payments the bank's date governs. Check that it carries the right year; why a converted bank CSV can show the wrong year explains how December and January go wrong.

Periods: lining the CSV up with the return

For a sole proprietor in Japan the return for the calendar year is due by 31 March: “ただし、個人事業者の12月31日の属する課税期間の消費税の確定申告と納税の期限は2月末日ではなく、3月31日までに延長されています。” (not the end of February but 31 March.) A statement that closes on 29 December leaves days of the period on next month's statement; a statement that ends on Dec 29 covers getting the year-end figures from two statements. For a year or a quarter in one file, merging 12 months of statements into one CSV explains how to avoid duplicated days.

Before you hand it over

If someone else prepares the return, send the period's CSV with the invoices and receipts, not instead of them. Mark the lines that are not sales or purchases, list the payments you could not find a document for, and say whether you use cash accounting. Handing bank statement CSVs to your accountant has the rest of the checklist.

Where LedgerDrop fits

When the statement is a PDF, LedgerDrop turns it into a CSV in your browser and checks every row against the balances the statement prints; the statement is not uploaded. The CSV has dates, descriptions, amounts and balances. It has no tax column, because the statement has no tax on it, and LedgerDrop does not work one out. LedgerDrop Pro writes the layouts QuickBooks Online, Xero and freee ask for; the tax codes are set in that software, from your invoices.

What this page cannot tell you

This is not tax or legal advice. Whether you must register, which rate applies to what you sell, which scheme suits you, and what your state, HMRC or the National Tax Agency expects on your return are for their own guidance and your accountant. Rates and rules change, as the notice above shows; check the agency's page for the period you are filing. Other countries' VAT and GST are not covered.

Questions