HMRC's new IT system may affect business support

HMRC recently announced changes to its VAT IT system which may affect your business support.

The current VAT mainframe computer will be decommissioned next year. HMRC is preparing for this by moving businesses to a new IT system over the next few months.

Why might this mean problems with payments?

HMRC intends to start moving taxpayer accounts to a new IT system in July 2021 and hopes to finish by September 2021.

This change will affect:

  • VAT-registered businesses that are not signed up to Making Tax Digital, i.e., mainly voluntary registrations; and

  • businesses that pay their VAT bills by direct debit.

To comply with banking regulations, HMRC has to inform businesses that pay by direct debit of the amount and payment date before the payment is taken. Due to the short timeframe between the return due date and the payment date, HMRC says it will only be able to do this by email following the change. If a business has no email on record, the direct debit will be cancelled, meaning the business is at risk of paying late. It is therefore worth logging into your business tax account now to ensure there is an email address on record.

AccountAbility Plus says: "If you require further business support, whether it is simple advice or you require a full-fledged finance department, our experienced and reliable team are on hand to do the hard work for you. We can offer you support with your accounts, bookkeeping and VAT requirements.

"To find out more about our outsourced accounting services why not speak with our friendly team online or call on 01440 821991

"We are happy to help or advise you on the steps you should take or which of our services would suit your business best."



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