COVID-19: Deferral for VAT payments

HMRC have confirmed a deferral for all VAT payments due between 20 March 2020 and 30 June 2020 by all businesses with a UK VAT registration. Businesses will have until 31 March 2021 to get VAT payments up to date. No penalties or interest will be incurred for such deferrals. VAT returns should continue to be filed. The deferral is automatic and no application is necessary.

If businesses pay by direct debit they must cancel these with the bank in sufficient time before a payment is due, typically this can take five days. This is to prevent HMRC automatically collecting a payment following the submission of a VAT return, so for businesses on the February VAT return stagger, payments will be due on 7 April 2020.

If businesses wish to pay their VAT liability, this can be done in the usual way.