Following-on from the regular initiatives to encourage businesses to move away from paper returns of all kinds in recent years, HMRC have finally set some dates for the compulsory electronic submission of VAT returns, and payment of VAT liabilities.
The Value Added Tax (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/2978) will come into force on 1st December 2009, where the principal effect of the changes being introduced are that the following VAT-registered businesses (with the exception of those businesses exempted on religious grounds and those that are subject to an insolvency procedure) will be required to submit VAT returns on-line and pay VAT electronically for accounting periods that start on or after 1st April 2010; these are:
- businesses currently registered for VAT that have an annual VAT-exclusive turnover of £100,000 or more
- businesses, irrespective of turnover, that have an effective date of registration on or after 1st April 2010
This will affect a fair number of businesses still submitting their returns on the old paper form VAT100, and action should be taken soon to ensure readiness for April 2010.
It doesn’t usually take more than a week or two to become registered for the on-line service so there should be no need to panic. Also, penalties for failure to file on-line where this is required will only apply to returns for accounting periods ending on or after 31st March 2011.
Our advice is to ensure that your business is ready in plenty of time by acting as soon as possible however.
