Warning from the revenue. - The Book-keepers Forum (UK)

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

Cheque payments to HMRC will have to be sent in earlier from next month to avoid penalties after the taxman changed its rules.

From the 1 April, cheque payments will not be treated as received until the day the cheque clears, rather than when it arrives.

This means if you are posting a cheque to HMRC, you should allow enough time for the post to arrive and for the cheque to clear to avoid the risk of a late payment penalty, said Adrian Houstoun, a VAT partner at Kingston Smith.

The move comes as HMRC tries to encourage more people towards electronic payments.

With businesses now relying on HMRCs efficiency to bank their cheques promptly, electronic payment methods are likely to look much more attractive, said Houstoun. Most businesses have an extra seven days after the payment due date to pay their VAT electronically, while those paying by cheque will have to submit it a week before the due date.

RobH · Expert

Thanks Shaun,

they are cutting back on all deadlines at the moment. Anyone who prepare EC Sales listing need to note that deadline has been reduced. HMRC have shed lots of staff and at the same time have been charged with getting in millions of pounds more in revenue. With less staff that's pretty difficult as they cannot possibly do any more inspections. So rather than collecting correct amounts of tax it would seem it is easier to enforce a harsher fining regime. Just look at the new fines for late submissions of accounts to Co House. After 3 months it is up to £750 and if you are late the following year it doubles to £1500. Of course this is a good reason for clients to have their bookkeeping done ina timely way,so perhaps it will work in our favour.

Rob

Lisa Jo · Senior Member

omg, just seen the photos. Wondered who it was ??

lor · Guru

and me! until I looked at the names, was it a join't plan, have I missed something on this forum! lol good pics though, very nostalgic!

RobH · Expert

Nothing planned, just the natural evolution of things from an earlier thread where Shaun suggested we were superheroes or at least we wore our underpants on the outside and then up popped the Del Boy and Rodney caped crusader picture and things escalated! Next week it will be Fawlty Towers!