Some self-employed clients get confused about the on-account payment due on 31 July . Their accountant may not have drawn up their accounts for 2008/09 (6 April 2008 to 5 April 2009), particularly for years ending on 31 March 2009, but the individual needs to pay tax on those profits. This can be difficult to understand.
If you suspect that you may have made a loss, or a significantly reduced profit for 2008/09, try to quantify this without delay. In either case the payment due on 31 July 2009 will need to be amended by submitting a claim to reduce the payment on account. This can be done using the paper form SA303, or online though the SA online system. There have been on-going problems with the online method, but we understand these are now fixed.
If you do need to pay some income tax by 31 July 2009 and want to send a cheque before you go away on holiday, make sure you send it to the right place. All tax payments should now be sent to the Shipley office:
HM Revenue and Customs Accounts Office
BRADFORD
BD98 1YY
Ideally you should include the payslip that was attached to your personal statement of account. When this cannot be found enclose a payslip printed from the HMRC website amended for your details.
Many businesses will also have VAT to pay by 31 July 2009, for the quarter to 30 June 2009. Electronic payers have up to seven extra days to pay, especially if they also file their VAT return online. These online filers are encouraged by HMRC to set up a direct debit to collect the VAT due as shown on their VAT return, with an incentive of an extra three days (on top of the seven for electronic payment) to pay the VAT due.
Those who don’t trust HMRC to collect the right amount of VAT by direct debit need to amend the bank account details they have stored on their online banking, as HMRC changed the bank account it uses to receive VAT payments on 8 July, to: Sort code: 08-32-00, Account no: 11963155 Some banks may not set up these new reference details, in old HMRC account details should be used. Check with the bank first to see if the new bank account reference is recognised by their system.
Where the VAT due is paid by cheque the payment should be sent to:
HMRC VAT controller,
VAT central unit
BX5 5AT
Article by guest blogger: Mark Lee from The Tax Advice Network.
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