Coronavirus: Missed VAT deferral deadline reclaims…
One of the measures that has been in place since the first raft of announcements to support businesses during the coronavirus pandemic is the option to defer VAT payments.
For VAT payments falling due in the period between 20 March 2020 to 30 June 2020 businesses could opt not to pay the VAT. Instead deferring it until up to 31 March 2021, at the latest.
Typically VAT returns are completed covering either one calendar month, or three calendar months. The VAT bill for that month, or quarter, falls due a month and a week from the end of it. So VAT returns running to the end of April have a payment deadline the first week in June, and are typically now submitted and paid. In that respect the deferral period has already ended for the majority of businesses.
However, HMRC has confirmed that where taxpayers wanted to defer VAT payments but paid accidentally, say where they did not manage to cancel their Direct Debit in time, they can claim a refund.
The quickest way for taxpayers to do so is by submitting a Direct Debit Indemnity Scheme (DDI) claim to their bank. There should be no time limit in making these type of claims.
Alternatively the business can ask for a repayment direct from HMRC in which case they must ensure that their bank details are updated using online services. HMRC have said that payment refund requests made this way will likely take up to 21 days to be processed.