# Record a tax return and its payment

Mark a filing period as filed and record payments against its saved amount owed.

Canonical: https://demo.qixcount.com/help/taxes/record-a-tax-return

Who can do this: Owners, or people with *View financial reports*

Where: Tax, then Filing periods

You'll need: Tax turned on in Features; a filing period with its amounts entered

Use the filing record to track a return you filed and a payment you made outside this screen. These actions update the filing record.

## Record the filing

1. Open **Tax**.
2. Select **Filing periods**.
3. Select the period's **View Details** icon.
4. Open **Actions**.
5. Select **Mark as Filed**. This choice appears for open periods.
6. Enter **Filing Reference Number** if needed, up to 255 characters.
7. Select **Mark as Filed** in the dialog.

QixCount records today's date and changes the status to Filed. The normal Edit and Delete controls are no longer shown.

## Record a payment

1. On the period's details page, open **Actions**.
2. Select **Record Payment**. It appears when the saved balance is greater than zero.
3. Enter **Payment Amount**. The dialog initially shows the remaining balance.
4. Select **Record Payment**.

![Filing period details with status, tax amounts and Actions menu](https://demo.qixcount.com/images/help/taxes-filing-period-details.webp)

## What happens next

The amount is added to tax paid. When total payments reach or exceed tax owed, status becomes Paid. Otherwise, the existing status remains. The balance never displays below zero.

The alternate details page reached from **Sales tax** requires *Manage business settings, roles & permissions*. Its **Mark as Filed** and **Record Payment** forms are directly on the page. Payment there must be at least $0.01. Review the saved tax-paid amount on the **Filing periods** sidebar page before recording another payment.

Next, review the [tax liability report](https://demo.qixcount.com/help/taxes/tax-liability).

## Good to know

They do not submit a return, send money or create a ledger payment.

## Who can do this and what you need

Create the [filing period and enter its amounts](https://demo.qixcount.com/help/taxes/filing-periods). You need *View financial reports* for the **Filing periods** sidebar pages.

If **Filing periods** isn't in the sidebar, someone with settings access can turn on **Tax** in [Features](https://demo.qixcount.com/help/setup/features-and-presets).