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HMRC have confirmed that a business filing a repayment VAT return online will benefit from an extra seven days to submit the return, compared with a paper return, in exactly the same way as for a payment VAT return.
There had been concern from tax advisers that the additonal seven days would not be given because the legislation required an electronic payment of VAT to be made as a condition of gaining the extra time.
However, the added seven days for a repayment VAT return is provided by a commissioner’s direction made under regulation 25A(20) of the VAT Regulations 1995 (regulation 25A was inserted by SI 2009/2978), which says:
‘Additional time is allowed to make… (b) a return using an electronic return system for which no payment is required to be made. That additional time is only as the Commissioners may allow in a specific or general direction.’
The specific direction mentioned in the legislation is published on the HMRC website. Businesses can access it via the link ‘Legal conditions’ in HMRC’s terms and conditions when they register for VAT.
The direction says:
‘Additional time may be available for a return and the payment of any VAT due to reach us where the return is made electronically'
Independent VAT consultant Neil Warren welcomed the clarification as ‘good news and a sensible measure that will avoid any unnecessary confusion for a business submitting a repayment return’.
