HMRC is reminding
VAT-registered businesses that all VAT returns must be submitted
online from this spring, meaning paper returns will soon be a
thing of the past.
Currently, only newly-registered businesses and those with
turnovers of more than £100,000 have to submit their VAT online,
as well as pay electronically. Anyone else can send HM Revenue
& Customs (HMRC) a paper VAT return, if they wish.
That is changing from April, when all 1.9 million VAT-registered
businesses in the UK will have to submit their VAT returns online,
and pay electronically, for accounting periods beginning on or
after 1 April 2012.
Every VAT-registered trader not already required to submit online
will receive a letter from HMRC in February, advising them of the
change, and what steps they need to take.
To submit your VAT return online, you need to be registered and
enrolled for HMRC’s VAT Online Service. To do this, visit
www.online.hmrc.gov.uk and click “Register” under the “New user”
section. Then follow the instructions.
Online filing has a number of benefits, compared to paper filing:
an automatic acknowledgement that your return has been
received;a handy sum checker; andan email alert to remind you when
your next online return is due (as, after April, HMRC will stop
sending out paper returns to customers who are now required to
submit online).
For details on the support available to help you move from paper
to online VAT returns, visit www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/online-return-help.pdf
Further help and advice is available from HMRC’s website at
www.hmrc.gov.uk/vatonline. If that doesn’t answer your question,
call the VAT Online Services Helpdesk on 0845 010 8500 (available
between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday).
Notes for editors
1. Newly-registered businesses, and those with turnovers of more
than £100,000, have had to submit and pay their VAT online since 1
April 2010.
2. Follow HMRC on Twitter @HMRCgovuk
Issued by HM Revenue & Customs Press
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