C79/PVA in the same month

Hi, I have a query regarding PVA and C79s. Our Customs Agent has used the C79 method for import VAT for a consignment that arrived beginning of August which is fine as we paid them the VAT upfront but has now sent us an invoice for using deferment (previous shipments with them we have used the same method however they never charged for using deferment). I assume they have a deferment account with HMRC. My question is can we switch to using PVA this month for our next consignments arriving before the end of this month? So essentially we would have a consignment using the C79 method and then consignments using the PVA method within the same month. And is there any other catches to PVA, apart from subscribing to the CDS and downloading monthly statements is there anything else we need to do? I believe we shouldn’t be charged for deferment by our agent if we use PVA? thanks

Hi You can use both PVA and VAT payment C79 as you wish there is no requirement to stay with one or the other. You should however be advising your agent which you want to use. You will have to take up any commercial charges with your customs agent. Deferment is used as a means to pay import duty and VAT once a month . If you use PVA then you are correct that you need to download the PVA statement and account for the VAT in your VAT return. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/complete-your-vat-return-to-account-for-import-vat

Hi gtf23,
There should not be any issue with using Postponed VAT Accounting (PVA) and using C79'S for the same month.
There are benefits to using PVA as it can help with cashflow.
In order to view your PVA statement you would need to enrol for a CDS account.
As there is no VAT to defer under PVA then there should not be a charge for deferment.
Thank you. 

Thank you, I have a CDS account but just never used PVA before so wanted to check. It's mainly as the customs agent wants to charge 1% fee even though we pay the VAT to them before the import, they still use their own deferment account to pay HMRC so we just wanted to avoid this fee where possible. Thanks