UK VAT Deferral Scheme Now Open
10 March 2021
- Contact Sean O’Sullivan
- Head of Tax, Global Expansion
- [email protected]
- +44 20 7430 5966
Recently the UK government announced there would be an extension of VAT deferral for businesses still battling with the impacts of the pandemic, meaning payments can be spread over the course of 2021 and through to as late as March 2022.
Further to our recent update on the extension of the UK’s COVID-19 VAT deferral scheme to March 2022, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) have now opened the scheme so that businesses can sign up.
The scheme will allow businesses to pay the deferred VAT in equal instalments, via Direct Debit. The earlier a business joins the scheme, the greater the number of instalments it will have available to spread these payments as shown in the table below.
If you join by | Number of instalments available |
| 19 March 2021 | 11 |
| 21 April 2021 | 10 |
| 19 May 2021 | 9 |
| 21 June 2021 | 8 |
A business must have a Government Gateway account set up with HMRC in order to access the service. If a company does not already have an account, these can be set up relatively easily.
Whilst HMRC have now confirmed that a tax agent cannot sign up businesses for the scheme directly through their agent login, please do not hesitate to contact Sean O’Sullivan if you require any assistance with the sign-up process, and he will gladly assist.
