Once a return is filed, what it owes sits on Sales tax filed and owing until you pay. Pay Sales Tax on the filed return writes the cheque: drawn on your bank account, made out to the tax agency, and numbered (or set aside to print). It clears the amount owing, and the cheque is in your books like any cheque you write. For a return that claimed a refund, you record the refund when it arrives, and it goes into the bank.
Always pay from the filed return in Manage Sales Tax. Do not write a separate cheque in Write Cheques or enter a bill for sales tax: those would not clear the filed return, and the tax would look unpaid.
Pay a return, step by step
- Open Vendors ▸ Sales Tax ▸ Manage Sales Tax and choose the agency at the top.
- Under 2 · Filed returns, find the return. Its Outstanding column shows what is still owed.
- Choose Pay Sales Tax on that row.
- The window Pay Sales Tax — … says how much is outstanding on the return for its period. Fill in:
- Pay from account — the bank account the cheque is drawn on. It starts on the account Write Cheques opens with (Edit ▸ Preferences ▸ Checking), or the one you last paid from.
- Cheque date — choose Change date to set the date on the cheque.
- Pay to the order of — type to search your vendors; the list drops down under the field. Leave it empty to make the cheque out to the agency: Receiver General for GST/HST, otherwise the agency on the return (for example Revenu Quebec or BC Ministry of Finance). The first time, that agency is added to your vendor list.
- Amount — starts at the full outstanding amount. Change it for a part payment.
- No. — starts at the next cheque number on that bank account, as in Write Cheques.
- To be printed — tick it to print the cheque later. No. is cleared and shows To Print; the number is given when you print it.
- Memo (optional) — added to the cheque's memo after the return's agency and period.
- Choose Write cheque.
SeroBooks says Cheque … written. This return is settled., or Cheque … written. $… still outstanding. for a part payment (with To be printed: Cheque written, to be printed from File ▸ Print Cheques.). A fully paid return shows Paid; a partly paid one stays Filed with the rest outstanding, and you can pay the rest later.
If the cheque number has already been used on that bank account, SeroBooks asks Check number … has already been used (…). Save it with this number anyway? Choose Keep this number or Cancel.
The cheque
The payment is an ordinary cheque, as if written in Banking ▸ Write Cheques: payee the agency, one line on the Expenses tab to Sales tax filed and owing, memo naming the return (for example GST/HST return 2026-07-01 to 2026-09-30). So it is:
- in the bank account's register, and in the Write Cheques list;
- in the Cheque Detail and Missing Cheques reports;
- on File ▸ Print Cheques while it is To be printed. Printing it there gives it its number (see Print cheques).
To print a cheque that already has its number, open the return with View and choose Print cheque beside the payment.
Record a refund
For a return that claimed a refund, choose Record payment. The window is titled Record a refund from … and shows the amount still to be received. Fill in the Amount, Paid on (the day it reached the bank), the Bank account it went into and a Reference (optional), and choose Record it. You type the amount as a positive number; SeroBooks knows it is money coming in. A refund is money received, not a cheque you write, so no cheque is made.
Date it the day the money moved
Use the cheque date (or the day the refund reached your bank), not the end of the return's period. A payment made in May for a January–March return belongs in May: that is where it will be on your bank statement, and dating it back into the period could fall on or before your closing date, which is refused.
What happens in the books
| Debit | Credit | |
|---|---|---|
| Payment (cheque) | Sales tax filed and owing | Bank account |
| Refund received | Bank account | Sales tax filed and owing |
The cheque posts the way every Write Cheques cheque to a vendor posts, dated the cheque date. A refund is a general journal entry dated the Paid on date, described with the agency, the period and your reference. Both appear in the bank account's register and reconcile window.
Void a payment
To take back a payment made by mistake — the wrong amount, account, date or return — choose Void payment on the return under 2 · Filed returns. If the return has several payments, pick the one to void. The window Void this payment? names it; choose Void payment to go ahead, or Cancel.
As QuickBooks voids a sales tax cheque, nothing is deleted:
- The payment stays listed on the return, at zero, marked VOID, with the amount it was for (see View).
- Its cheque stays in the books with its number, at zero, its memo starting VOID:, as when you void a cheque in Write Cheques.
- A refund or an older payment recorded without a cheque gets a reversing entry dated the payment's own date, so both stay in the books.
SeroBooks says Payment voided. The amount is owing on the return again. Pay it again correctly, or, once no payment stands, reverse the return (see Reverse a filed return). A payment dated on or before your closing date, or one already ticked in a bank reconciliation, cannot be voided.
Permissions
Paying needs Record a Remittance; voiding a payment needs Remove a Remittance. Printing a cheque from the return also needs access to Write Cheques.
Messages you may see
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| This filing has … outstanding and the payment is …. Recording it would leave the tax account overpaid by …. | You entered more than the return owes. Enter the amount owing. If you really did overpay, record the difference separately with a general journal entry. |
| This filing is a refund of … and … has already been received. Recording … more would claim beyond what the return asked for. | The refund is already fully recorded. |
| … is not a bank account. Write the cheque on a bank account. | Choose a bank account in Pay from account. |
| No bank account is set up. | Add a bank account in the Chart of Accounts first. |
| That vendor is not in these books. | Choose another vendor, or leave Pay to the order of empty to pay the agency. |
| The cheque could not be posted to the ledger, so nothing was recorded. | Check Company ▸ Accounting Setup: posting must be on, with Accounts Payable mapped. |
| That payment is already void. | Nothing more to do. |
| That filing has been reversed, so there is nothing owing against it. File the period again before recording a payment. | Refile the period, then pay the new filing. |
| A message that the date is in a closed period | Use the actual payment date, which should be after the closing date. |
Tips
- Paying by instalments is fine: write a cheque for each payment as it is made.
- When you reconcile the bank account, the cheque appears among the cheques and payments to tick.
- A return with a payment standing against it cannot be reversed. Void the payment first with Void payment.