Tag: HM Revenue and Customs

Less than one month left for VAT businesses to be ready for Making Tax Digital filing

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is reminding businesses that from Tuesday 1 November, they will no longer be able to use their existing Value Added Tax (VAT) online account to submit VAT returns.  

By law, all VAT-registered businesses must now sign up to Making Tax Digital (MTD) and use compatible software to keep their VAT records and file their returns.  

MTD’s aim is to help businesses get their tax right first time by reducing errors, making it easier for them to manage their tax affairs by going digital, and consequently helping them to grow. 

More than 1.8 million businesses are already benefitting from the service, and more than 19 million returns have been successfully submitted through MTD-compatible software so far.  

In less than one month, businesses who file their VAT returns on a quarterly and monthly basis will no longer be able to submit them using their existing VAT online account, unless HMRC has agreed they are exempt from MTD.  

If businesses do not file their VAT returns through MTD-compatible software, they may have to pay a penalty. Even if a business currently keeps digital records, they must check their software is MTD compatible and sign up for MTD before filing their next return. 

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Richard Fuller MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said: “Making Tax Digital can help businesses get their tax right first time, which cuts the administration burden and frees up time for them to get on with what matters most to them – growing their business.

“I encourage any VAT-registered businesses still to register for Making Tax Digital to get online and sign up.”

If a business hasn’t already signed up to MTD or started using compatible software, they must follow these steps now: 

Step 1. Choose MTD-compatible software – a list of software, including free and low-cost options, can be found on GOV.UK. 

Step 2. Check the permissions in the software – once a business has allowed it to work with MTD, they can file VAT returns easily. Go to GOV.UK to learn how to do this and search ‘manage permissions for tax software’. 

Step 3. Keep digital records for current and future VAT returns – a business can find out what records need to be kept on GOV.UK. 

Step 4. Sign up for MTD and file future VAT returns using MTD-compatible software – to find out how to do this, go to GOV.UK and search ‘record VAT’. 

If a business is already exempt from filing VAT returns online or if their business is subject to an insolvency procedure, they will automatically be exempt.

A business can check if they can apply for an exemption from MTD on GOV‌‌‌.UK if it is not reasonable or practical for them to use computers, software or the internet. HMRC will consider each application on a case-by-case basis.    

If a business is new and is not yet registered for VAT, they will automatically be signed up for MTD while registering for VAT through HMRC’s new VAT Registration Service (VRS). 

Registering via this online service not only means a faster VAT registration and improved security, but also helps new businesses to be fully compliant with MTD requirements from Day 1 – although they will still need to get the right software to submit their VAT returns.  

A range of accessible help is available online through GOV.UK, webinars and videos as well as through HMRC’s Extra Support Service. 

Thousands of people have also benefitted from HMRC’s live webinars, which offer support on filing digitally and explain how it can help businesses. HMRC is continuing to communicate directly with businesses and agents to support them as they transition to MTD for VAT. 

Benefits and credits to be paid early ahead of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral

  • People expecting to receive benefits and credits on Monday 19 September will be paid early
  • Benefits and credits will be paid on Friday 16 September, the last working day before the bank holiday

The Department for Work and Pensions and HM Revenue and Customs have put arrangements in place to ensure all benefits and credits due to be paid on this date – now a bank holiday for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral – will be delivered in advance.

People who are due to receive payments on Monday 19 September will instead be paid on Friday 16 September, the last working day before the State Funeral.

This arrangement follows standard DWP and HMRC protocol that sees benefit and credit payment dates brought forward in line with national bank holidays.

Further Information

The full list of payments affected are:

  • Attendance Allowance
  • Carer’s Allowance
  • Disability Living Allowance
  • Employment and Support Allowance
  • Income Support
  • Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
  • Jobseeker’s Allowance
  • Pension Credit
  • Personal Independence Payment
  • State Pension
  • Universal Credit
  • Child Benefit/Guardian’s Allowance
  • Working Tax Credits
  • Child Tax Credits

Consultation launched to address concerns about repayment agents

New measures to stop rip-off agents taking advantage of people and pocketing their tax repayments have been proposed by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

HMRC has launched a 12-week consultation “Raising standards in tax advice: Protecting customers claiming tax repayments” to consider ways to better protect taxpayers from Repayment Agents who make routine tax claims on people’s behalf but can take up to half, or even more, of the payment.

Taxpayers can use Repayment Agents to make claims for repayments of tax, and many are happy with the service they receive. On the other hand, many taxpayers have complained that the scale of the charges are unclear or even hidden, while questions have been raised about how some agents secure agreements from customers.

The consultation proposes various ways to better protect the public from unscrupulous practices and ensure they receive the money they are entitled to, while also asking various questions to better understand the problem.

This includes seeking views on:

  • restricting the use of assignments, where contracts legally transfer the right to a repayment from a taxpayer to an agent
  • introducing measures designed to ensure taxpayers see material information about a repayment agent’s service before entering into a contractual agreement
  • requiring repayment agents to register with HMRC

HMRC is aware of a number of specific concerns with the industry including excessive amounts of commission charged for routine tax repayments. However, taxpayers can make a claim directly through HMRC’s free online service on GOV.UK and keep 100% of the repayment themselves.

There is also strong evidence that many taxpayers do not understand the terms they are signing up to and feel misled, some even believing they are dealing with HMRC directly rather than a third party.

Other concerns include the submission of high volume or speculative claims where no repayment is due, resulting in delays to genuine claims, as well as the use of assignments which means the repayment goes to the Repayment Agent instead of the taxpayer.

Jonathan Athow, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Strategy and Tax Design, said: “We want to make sure taxpayers receive their full tax claims – putting 100% of the money they are due into their pockets – and not be taken in by the unscrupulous practices of some Repayment Agents.

“The ‘Raising standards in tax advice’ consultation aims to seek views so we can better understand and address the issues to help raise standards in the tax advice market. We’re urging anyone affected to respond to the consultation and share their experiences.”

HMRC is interested in hearing the views of all tax agents, particularly those who specialise in helping taxpayers claim repayments; taxpayers who have claimed or considered claiming tax refunds through repayment agents; those who have seen adverts from repayment agents; charitable organisations; consumer groups; and accountancy professional bodies.

The consultation is now open and will run until 14 September 2022. 

HMRC is also reminding taxpayers that they remain responsible for their own tax. If they do appoint an agent, they should take care to ensure they are aware of fees and the terms and conditions of service, and not to share their HMRC login details with them.

HMRC has published standards for agents and will take action against agents who breach them.

Don’t lose out: tax credits deadline looming

moneyWith the tax credits renewal deadline of 31 July just ten days away, HMRC has revealed the top 10 excuses for not renewing tax credits claims.

Excuses given by claimants to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for missing the deadline include:

  • I didn’t need the money because I’d met a rich bloke, but he dumped me
  • My mum usually does this for me
  • The form was locked in the boot of my car, and then my car caught fire
  • My baby used the paperwork as a colouring book
  • My dog ate the form
  • I got confused with the 31 January Self Assessment deadline
  • I booked the last two weeks of July for a holiday and forgot all about it
  • I’ve been in hospital but am feeling much better now
  • I was unable to get income details from my employers in time
  • I thought I’d already renewed

Claimants have until the 31 July deadline to renew, or their payments might end – last year more than 650,000 failed to renew on time. This year, for the first time, claimants can renew online, at GOV.UK, as well as being able to renew by post and phone.

Nick Lodge, Director General of Benefits and Credits, HMRC, said: “By 15 July over 203,000 claimants have renewed online. It’s a quick and easy way to do it. Renewing tax credits on time is important. People who don’t renew by the deadline can, and do, lose their payments.”

HMRC asks all claimants to check the accuracy of the information in their renewals pack, and to tell the department about any changes to their circumstances that they haven’t already reported, such as to their working hours, childcare costs or pay.

Granton Information Centre’s Caroline Pickering said: “There has been quite a big media campaign to remind people that they must renew their claims, and it really is important that they do so by 31 July. Many of our clients first approach us with money problems, and any loss of income can have really serious consequences for families who are often living on the tightest of budgets”.