New rules for
businesses who want to reschedule large tax debts under HMRC’s
Business Payment Support Service (BPSS) come into effect next month.
The BPSS gives viable businesses, experiencing temporary
difficulties paying their taxes,the opportunity to reschedule
their tax payments to a more affordable timetable, as part of a
‘time to pay’ arrangement. These arrangements can cover PAYE,
National Insurance, VAT or any other HMRC taxes.
From April 2010, businesses seeking time to pay arrangements on
tax debts of £1m or more must provide an Independent Business
Review (IBR) in support of their request. Typically, an IBR will
include a review of a number of important areas, including:
current trading and financial position; profit and cash flow
projections; business and financial strategies; management
systems; and funding and banking arrangements.
The IBR must be carried out by a qualified professional advisor –
such as an accountancy firm or an insolvency practitioner – and be
paid for by the business making the request. In many cases,
businesses will have already implemented a similar review, for
example, in discussions with their banks.
HMRC’s Nick Lodge said:
“In view of the amounts of tax involved, HMRC needs to ensure
that decisions about large time to pay arrangements are supported
by a comprehensive audit trail, to help guarantee better value for
money and fairness for all taxpayers.
“We remain committed to supporting compliant, viable businesses
through periods of temporary difficulty by providing time to pay
arrangements under the BPSS.”
For further information on BPSS, go to www.hmrc.gov.uk/pbr2008/business-payment.htm
or contact the BPSS helpline on 0845 302 1435. The helpline is
open from 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday, and 8am to 4pm at weekends.
Notes to editors
1. The BPSS was created in November 2008 to provide viable
businesses in temporary financial difficulties with a streamlined,
cost-free service for considering requests to pay their taxes to
an affordable timetable. It has helped over 200,000 businesses
reschedule more than £5.2billion of tax.
2. The Chancellor announced the decision to require Independent
Business Reviews for time to pay requests involving sums of £1m or
more in his Pre Budget Report on 9 December 2009.
Issued by HM Revenue & Customs Press
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Jan Marszewski
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Darlene Coker
Phone: 020 7147 2333
darlene.coker@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk