Refunds for businesses that missed VAT deferral date

HMRC has advised that taxpayers who wanted to defer their VAT payments but did not cancel their direct debits in time will be able to claim a refund.

UK VAT registered business that have a VAT payment due between 20 March 2020 and 30 June 2020 now have the option to either:

• defer the payment until a later date or,
• pay the VAT due as normal

Notably, there will be no interest charge or penalties on any amount deferred. This is a temporary change to help businesses manage their finances during the coronavirus crisis.

Only certain types of VAT payment can be deferred:

• quarterly and monthly VAT returns’ payments for the periods ending in February, March, and April
• payments on account due between 20 March 2020 and 30 June 2020
• annual accounting advance payments due between 20 March 2020 and 30 June 2020

The deferral does not cover payments for VAT MOSS or import VAT.

Government guidance on this issue can be found here.

About the Author

Paul Newbold

Partner

After qualifying with KPMG where he gained significant audit experience, Paul joined Torgersens in 1991 and became the firm’s audit partner in 2000. Paul employs his broad range of financial skills to provide commercial and accounting advice to a range of owner-managed businesses in the independent retail, education and professional services sectors. He also has extensive experience dealing with charities, Registered Social Landlords and not-for-profit organisations and co-operatives.   Outside of work, Paul likes to visit Eastern France and South-West German and read novels by David Morrell, Michael Blake and Harper Lee. He also likes watching films, his favourite is The Shawshank Redemption.

To get in touch please e-mail paul.newbold@torgersens.com.