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Beatings will continue...

10 December 2013 / Mike Thexton
Issue: 4432 / Categories: Comment & Analysis , VAT

...until morale improves: the VAT default surcharge regime could be too harsh

KEY POINTS

  • Are the levels of the VAT default surcharge worse than payday lending interest rates?
  • The surcharge should be proportionate to the misdemeanours they aim to discourage.
  • Insufficient funds is not an excuse but the reason for the insufficiency itself might be.
  • Help letters from HMRC and surcharge waivers may engender a false sense of security.
  • The importance of agreeing a time-to-pay arrangement before the liability become payable.

Not even Wikipedia could tell me where the t-shirt slogan in the headline comes from but it may well adorn the wall of whoever designed the VAT default surcharge legislation.

Appeals from businesses on this topic usually provide the largest single matter for First-tier Tribunal (FTT) hearings in any period but in the past few months there...

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