The periodic VAT return cannot be generated or submitted

Symptom

A button on the VAT return (Calculate, Validate, Record submission, Record payment, Replace, Delete) opens Invalid Operation or does not do what you expected. The return stays in the state it was in.

The normal path is in How to prepare and file the periodic VAT return. The examples are the 2026 returns of Empresa Demonstração, Lda, opened in Accounting › Declare › What is there to do with the VAT? › Supporting lists › VAT return records, with a user with the Certified accountant profile.

Message

Deleting a return that is not in draft (October 2026, Computed, Actions › Delete):

“Only a draft VAT return can be deleted. What happened: it was already computed or beyond and stays for the record. How to fix it: send it back to draft first (Fiscal Administration).”

Deleting a return already filed (January 2026, Submitted, Actions › Delete):

“VAT return “Empresa Demonstração, Lda — 2026/1 (v1)” was delivered to the Tax Authority and cannot be deleted. What happened: a submitted, accepted or paid return is what was declared and stays for the record. How to fix it: correct it with a replacement return (button “Replace”); the original is kept.”

The same refusal appears with the September 2026 return Submitted, with the administrator.

Replacing without a reason (September 2026, Replace): the Replace the VAT return window says “The submitted return stays as it was. A new version of the same period is created in draft.” and Create replacement with an empty Reason for replacement gives “Some required fields are empty. Fill in the fields marked in red to be able to save.”

Verified causes

The refusals fall into five causes. The buttons that appear depend on the state: Validated shows Export DP IVA file and Record submission (and Send back to draft, only to the administrator); Submitted shows Replace, Export DP IVA file, Register the delivery to the AT, Record acceptance and Close VAT period, and Record payment only when there is VAT to pay (on the September 2026 return, with €440.68 to pay, the button appeared; on the August 2026 one, with no VAT to pay, it does not appear); Paid shows Reverse payment instead of Record acceptance and Record payment.

1. The return is not in the right state for the step. It can only be deleted in draft; it can only be validated after Calculate; it can only be submitted after Validate; it cannot be calculated again after validation; the payment is recorded after filing and only if there is VAT to pay: with no VAT to pay, the Record payment button does not appear.
2. The return has already been validated or filed. A filed return cannot be deleted or sent back to draft. What feeds it (the intra-community classification of a document, the lines of annexes 40 and 41, an export proof) can no longer be changed. It is corrected with a replacement return.

3. The values belong to the system. The fields, the checks and the edit log are not written by hand; you use the buttons (Calculate, Run checks, Edit field 95).
4. A reason, a date or mandatory data is missing: the reason for the replacement or for sending back, the payment date, the certified accountant, the company's tax number (NIF).
5. There are blocking checks: journal entries of the period not yet posted, data that changed after calculating, the certified accountant missing. These three are in Periodic VAT return, Common problems, with the message for each.

Pending validation on screen: the missing payment date, changes to documents and annexes of a validated return and the field mapping refusals were not triggered (the other refusals in this list are in the “Message” section, in “How to fix it” and in “Common problems” of the return article).

What to check

1. The state of the return (in the top bar) and the version (v1, v2…) in the name.
2. In Quadro 06 — fields, whether field 93 (VAT to pay) has a value before recording a payment. Pending validation by a certified accountant: correspondence of field 93 with the VAT to pay for the period.
3. The Checks tab: each Blocking line prevents validating and submitting.

How to fix it

• Deleting a calculated or validated return, not yet filed: only the administrator (or whoever has the extra Fiscal administration access) can send it back to draft. With the Certified accountant profile, the Send back to draft button does not appear. In the demonstration, with the administrator, on a Validated return (version 2 of the September 2026 one):
  1. Click Send back to draft. The Send back to draft window opens, with the Declaration and the Reason.
  2. Write the reason and click Send back to draft. Without a reason, the window gives “Some required fields are empty. Fill in the fields marked in red to be able to save.”
  3. The return becomes Draft, with Calculate. To delete it, use Actions › Delete.
• A filed return is not deleted or sent back: it is replaced. On a Submitted return, Send back to draft no longer appears (not even to the administrator) and Delete is refused (message above). Use Replace.
• Recording the payment: the button only appears when the return has VAT to pay. On a return with a credit or a zero balance, there is nothing to record: the credit is carried over to the following period or to the refund request. Pending validation by a certified accountant: carrying the credit forward in field 61 of the following period or the refund request (field 95) and the refund conditions (VAT Code (CIVA), art. 22).
• Replacing: write the Reason for replacement and click Create replacement. The filed return stays as it was and the new version opens in draft; follow it from Calculate, as in Replacing a filed return.
• Blocking checks: correct the point indicated, click Calculate again and then Run checks.

Expected result

• The return moves to the next state (for example, from Computed to Validated).
• In the VAT returns (DP IVA) list, each period has its latest version with the right state.

When to contact support

• The return is in the state the message asks for and the button still refuses.
• The return has VAT to pay in Quadro 06 — fields and the Record payment button does not appear, after Record submission.

Information to send

• The company, the period and the version of the return.
• The full text of the message, copied from the screen.
• A screenshot of the Checks tab.
• The profile you logged in with.