HomeNewsBusiness NewsBusiness News 2009More about the Business Payment Support Service

Business News 2009

More about the Business Payment Support Service

Following our article in January's Newswire about flexible tax payment arrangements offered through HM Revenue & Customs’ new Business Payment Support Service (BPSS), here are some more details to help you, if you want to take advantage of the new scheme.

The BPSS and its dedicated Business Payment Support Line was set up to offer businesses, the self-employed or self-assessment taxpayers in temporary financial difficulty the opportunity to pay corporation tax, income tax, national insurance contributions, PAYE, VAT and other taxes to a timetable they can afford and without surcharges on payments involved.

The support line, which is intended for new enquiries only, can be contacted on 0845 303 1435 between 8am-8pm, Monday to Friday, and 8am-4pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Key points for anyone wishing to use the service include:

  • Don't wait until your tax payment is overdue to contact the support line. If payments are due now or in the near future, the sooner you get in touch, the better. If payments aren’t due yet, contact the support line once you know whether you can pay or not.
  • To help advisers deal with your call efficiently, you will need to have to hand:
    • your tax reference number
    • details of the tax you are, or will have, trouble paying
    • basic details of your business’s or personal income and outgoings.
    • It will also help advisers if you have an idea of what sort of payment terms you can sensibly manage.
  • In most cases, you will be given a decision within ten minutes. If the debt is particularly large or complex, the BPSS will call you back as soon as a decision has been made. This will happen within the region of four working days.
  • HMRC says it will be flexible and agree arrangements to bring tax up-to-date on a case-by-case basis and on a timescale that is reasonable and appropriate.
  • There are numerous ways to make payments to HMRC, including Bacs, cheque, debit card or credit card, direct debit and internet banking.
  • There will be no late payment surcharges on payments included in time to pay arrangements, although interest will continue to be payable on those taxes where it applies.
  • For individual taxpayers, this means that self-assessment payments due by 31 January 2009 but not made by the end of February would attract a five per cent surcharge on the unpaid sum. However, taxpayers who have been given permission to delay payments, while not incurring a penalty, will still have to pay interest on the outstanding amounts of 3.5 per cent.

For more information on payment deferrals, please contact us.