COVID-19 - Deferral Of VAT

If you’re a UK VAT registered business and have a VAT payment due between 20 March 2020 and 30 June 2020, you have the option to defer the payment until a later date...

HMRC will not charge interest or penalties on any amount deferred as a result of the Chancellor’s announcement but you will still need to submit your VAT returns to HMRC on time as HMRC will continue to process VAT reclaims and refunds as normal during this time.

If you choose to defer your VAT payment as a result of coronavirus (COVID-19), you must pay the VAT due on or before 31 March 2021. You do not need to tell HMRC that you are deferring your VAT payment.

If you normally pay by Direct Debit you should contact your bank to cancel your Direct Debit as soon as you can, or you can cancel online if you’re registered for online banking.

VAT payments due following the end of the deferral period will have to be paid as normal. Further information about how to repay the VAT you’ve deferred will be available soon.

If you are experiencing financial difficulties more help is available from HMRC’s Time to Pay service.

Learn more about these provisions here.

Image: Marco Verch License: Creative Commons 2.0.