Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat accounting that survives an HMRC enquiry.

You must record the full gross order value as your income, not the net amount Deliveroo deposits in your bank. The commission Deliveroo deducts is a separate business expense. Since 1 January 2024, all UK delivery platforms (Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Just Eat) report your gross transaction data directly to HMRC under the DAC7 reporting regime. If your tax return shows the net figure instead of the gross, your declared turnover will not match what HMRC has received from the platform, which triggers an automatic compliance check.

Yes. All three major UK delivery platforms charge 20% VAT on top of their commission. A 30% commission therefore actually costs you 36% of the order value once VAT is added. If your restaurant is VAT-registered you can reclaim that input VAT, but only if commissions are recorded as a separate expense with the VAT element correctly identified on the invoice. Many restaurants miss this and overpay VAT by thousands of pounds per year.

If your restaurant is VAT-registered, yes. You will need valid VAT invoices from each platform (downloadable from each merchant portal) and must record commission as a business expense with input VAT correctly allocated. At typical commission rates of 25% to 35%, the reclaimable VAT alone can amount to £5,000 to £15,000 per year for a busy London restaurant. LOYALS recovers this systematically as part of monthly bookkeeping.

HMRC opens a compliance check, starting with a letter requesting clarification. Under the inaccuracy penalty bands, careless errors attract penalties of 0% to 30% of the tax owed, deliberate but not concealed errors 20% to 70%, and deliberate and concealed errors 30% to 100%, plus interest at Bank of England base rate plus 2.5%. Voluntary disclosure before HMRC writes typically halves the percentage at the bottom of each band. If you have already received an HMRC letter, get specialist advice immediately as early cooperation materially reduces the eventual penalty.

Yes. All sales through Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat count toward the VAT registration threshold of £90,000 over a rolling 12-month period (the threshold has been £90,000 since 1 April 2024). You must count the full gross order value, not just the net amount after commission. Many owners cross the threshold without realising because they have been tracking bank deposits rather than gross sales. Late VAT registration carries automatic penalties on top of the back-VAT owed.

Platform payouts rarely match the sum of individual orders due to timing differences, deducted commissions, customer refunds, adjustments, promotional contributions and dispute resolutions. You need detailed transaction reports from each platform's merchant portal matched against bank deposits. LOYALS uses a structured reconciliation process that automatically matches platform reports to bank entries, eliminating guesswork and creating a clean audit trail.

Strongly recommended. Separate income and expense codes for Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Just Eat and direct sales let you track profitability per channel and make VAT returns much cleaner. Most restaurants are surprised to discover that one platform is significantly more profitable than another after commissions, packaging and refunds are properly allocated. We set up tracking categories for each platform in Xero or QuickBooks as standard during onboarding.

Keep all platform sales reports, bank statements showing platform deposits, VAT invoices for commission fees, refund records, packaging receipts and EPOS daily reports. HMRC requires records for at least 6 years for VAT-registered businesses and 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline for self-employed sole traders. With MTD ITSA Phase 1 LIVE since 6 April 2026, digital records in MTD-compatible software are now mandatory for sole traders and landlords with combined gross income above £50,000.

LOYALS Premium Accounting starts at £150/month plus VAT for single-site restaurants and includes monthly delivery platform reconciliation, mixed-rate VAT returns, commission VAT recovery, payroll, annual accounts and ongoing HMRC support. Business Mentor at £250/month plus VAT adds dedicated strategic support. The Business Growth Programme at £2,000/month plus VAT provides a complete business team. All packages include WhatsApp support and Mon to Sat 10am to 7pm availability.

Yes. We work with all major hospitality EPOS systems including Square, Lightspeed, Toast, Tevalis, ICRTouch, Zonal, Epos Now and Clover, integrating with Xero or QuickBooks as the accounting backbone. We pull transaction data automatically from the Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat merchant portals so reconciliation runs without manual data entry. Book a free call and we will show you exactly how the integration works for your setup.

MTD for Income Tax (MTD ITSA) Phase 1 went LIVE on 6 April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with combined gross income above £50,000. If you operate your restaurant as a sole trader and your gross turnover exceeds that threshold, you are now required to maintain digital records and submit four quarterly updates plus a final declaration each year. Phase 2 brings the threshold down to £30,000 from April 2027 and Phase 3 to £20,000 from April 2028. Crucially, your gross turnover for MTD purposes includes the full value of every Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat order, not just net bank deposits, which means many restaurants are above the threshold the moment platform sales are recorded correctly. Read our deep MTD ITSA guide for the full picture.

Staff meals during shifts, packaging and disposable costs (containers, lids, carrier bags, branded stickers, cutlery packs, thermal delivery bags), equipment repairs and maintenance, pest control contracts, software subscriptions (EPOS, accounting, reservations, marketing), uniform cleaning, training costs, professional subscriptions, energy efficiency improvements and accounting fees themselves are all frequently overlooked. Most restaurants miss £3,000 to £8,000 in deductions annually. We review every expense category during onboarding.