VAT Direct Debate Date Afer Due Date?

Hi I just set up a direct debate to pay my VAT return for the period Aug-Oct. My payment is due by 7th December 2023. When setting up the direct debit, I had no option to choose the payment date, and it says my next payment will be taken on 12th December 2023 (5 days late). Do I need to worry about this / make my first payment manually before 7th? Or is it normal for the direct debits to be taken after the due date and I will not be penalised?

No need to worry, when paying by direct debit, HMRC will check that on the 7th of the month that i) you've filed your return on or before the 7th and ii) that you've an active direct debit setup. If that is the case, HMRC will request funds around 3-4 days AFTER the 7th deadline (depending upon weekend/bank holiday). Your payment is not late and there is no penalty. It's not 5 days late, it is three working days later. Link here https://www.gov.uk/pay-vat/direct-debit "Once you’ve set up the Direct Debit, payments will be collected automatically from your bank account 3 working days after the payment deadline on your VAT return. If you file your VAT return late, your payment will be taken 3 days after you file the return."

Thanks Jason! Very helpful

Hi,

The Direct Debit will always take the payment based on the box 5 figure of the VAT return 3 working days after the 7th of the month. For example, this month should be taken on the 10th November.

If you have any doubt about whether the Direct Debit has been set up correctly, you can contact our VAT team to check.

VAT: general enquiries

Thank you.

Hi set up direct debit after due date - will due amount for last quarter be taken automatically or will it only start this quarter (next due date) and I should settle the due amount manually?

Hi set up direct debit after due date - will due amount for last quarter be taken automatically or will it only start this quarter (next due date) and I should settle the due amount manually?

Hi,

If you have set up the Direct Debit after the due date, then the Direct Debit will not try and take the payment for that quarter and we would recommend paying by another method.

Pay your VAT bill

Thank you.

Hello, HMRC Admin 2. I have a Direct Debit setup on my VAT account but have two payments that appear to not have been taken by HMRC as of yet. One from Feb and one from early May. I am concerned that I will be penalised for missing payments but the Payment History tab says "You paid HMRC" for each value. I cannot find these payments on my bank statement. What should I do? Kind regards, - M

Hi,

Please contact our VAT team so that we can open up your account and identify these payments.

VAT: general enquiries

Thank you.

Hello Inadvertently I missed my payment deadline recently. It should have been paid on the 7th August but was paid on Monday 12th. I thought I had already scheduled the payment with Barclays as I normally do so wasn't overly concerned until I noticed when catching up on the Xero accounts that it hadn't been paid or scheduled. This was very much a one off and as a consequence I have now set up all further payments by DD. I am hoping therefore not to incur charges for a late payment but realise that late payments are not good. A genuine oversight/mistake.

Hi,

You should not incur a late payment penalty for this. You can see information here:

How late payment penalties work if you pay VAT late

However you may incur a small amount of interest for the lateness of the payment. Please see the guidance below:

Late payment interest if you do not pay VAT or penalties on time

Thank you.

Thanks and understood. It should no longer be an issue since I have now set up all future payments by DD.

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