Update on the deferral of VAT payments due to Coronavirus

Update on the deferral of VAT payments due to Coronavirus

If you deferred your VAT payments last year and still have payments to make here are the options available to you:

1) You could pay the deferred VAT, IN FULL, on OR before 31 March 2021

2) You could opt in to the new VAT deferral payment scheme (when it launches on the 23.2.2021)

The online service will be open from 23.2.2021 to 21.6.2021.

To clarify, we’re talking about the following VAT quarters which could have been deferred, due to Coronavirus, last year:

– February 2020
– March 2020
– April 2020

So, you may be wondering what it means if you’d like to choose option 2 – let us explain:

Instead of paying the full amount by the end of March 2021, you will be able to make between 2 and 11 (maximum), direct debit, monthly instalments – completely interest free.

Please note – you will need to join the scheme yourself.

As we, your agent, are not able to do this for you, so you must ensure you join before the 21.6.2021 if you’d like to take advantage of the new deferral scheme.

One main condition is that you must be up to date with your VAT returns – by this we mean that all outstanding VAT return have been submitted to HMRC.

The date you join the scheme is very important as it will determine the number of instalments you can make – for example:

If you joined by:	Number of instalments available to you
19th March 2021	11
21st April 2021	10
19th May 2021	9
21st June 2021	8

So, if you wish to spread the deferred VAT over 11 instalments, you’ll need to join the scheme by the 19 March 2021.

As mentioned above, you cannot opt in to the new scheme just yet as the scheme opens on the 23.2.2021.

We’d therefore recommend that you:

1. Make a diary note to ensure you don’t miss the first deadline (19 March 2021 if you’d like to take advantage of spreading out the deferred VAT over 11 instalments)
   
2. Get ready now by making sure you have a Government Gateway account set up.

If you don’t have one set up you can set one up by going to GOV.UK and by registering for an account.

If you already have one set up, please make sure you have your login details to hand so you’re ready to make the application.

Please note – we do not have this information as this is your unique login. 

Here’s a link to the GOV.UK page which gives you more details.

Please contact us if you have any questions.