The Chancellor has announced that HMRC have introduced a new dedicated Business Payment Support Service for business taxpayers. It is designed to meet the needs of businesses which are due to pay tax and which are affected by the current economic conditions. Information about the new extended payment support service is available on the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) website at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pbr2008/business-payment.htm, including advice to get in touch sooner rather than later if tax liabilities are imminent. More information will be added during the course of the next few days.
HMRC have informed us by letter that:
"HMRC has a key role to play in helping businesses that are affected by the economic downturn and who are struggling through no fault of their own to meet their tax obligations on time. We already take a flexible approach and try to give businesses in this position the time they need to bring their tax payments up to date.
"From today, HMRC are expanding this service and introducing a dedicated Business Payment Support Service to directly help those businesses that need assistance most. The service will be accessible via our website, with a support line for those businesses that have current or imminent tax debts that they are unable to pay in full and for which there is no existing payment arrangement in force. The Support Line will be open seven days a week (from 8 till 8 on weekdays and 8 till 4 at weekends). This will give businesses a fast and streamlined service for arranging to pay their HMRC tax bill to a timetable they can afford. In addition to this HMRC will offer further practical help by not adding any additional late payment surcharges to these ‘time to pay’ arrangements.
"It is important to note however that this Support Line is for new enquiries only. If we have already contacted the customer about an overdue payment or if they already have a payment arrangement with us they should call the office which originally contacted them.
"The Business Payment Support Service is up and running now. The extended service is featured prominently on the HMRC homepage and more detailed information is available on our web pages [and, from Tuesday 25th, on businesslink.gov.uk.]. The number for the Business Payment Support Line is 0845 302 1435.
"We want to encourage businesses to use this new service. We know that, as a key stakeholder, you will want to play a part in alerting your members and their clients to use the Business Payment Support Service if they are experiencing difficulties in meeting their tax payments. And we look forward to hearing from you on how the service is operating, including how we can look to identify and manage busy telephone periods."
Any members who have any comments about the new service are invited to send them to the CIOT Technical Team at technical@tax.org.uk withd ‘Business Payment Support Service –FAO Tina Riches’ in the subject line. We will collate any replies and pass them on to HMRC.
Technical Department
020 7235 9381
