Rejection rate climbs for Time to Pay
Taxman turns down higher percentage of requests by struggling businesses to defer their tax bill in 2010, compared to 2009
THE REJECTION RATE has increased for struggling businesses’ requests for tax payment deferrals.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has increased its rejection rate for requests by businesses asking for more time to pay their taxes, new official figures show.
In 2010, HMRC rejected 5.8% of requests for “Time to Pay” agreements, up from 2.7% in 2009.
Last November, HMRC said its rejection rate for Time to Pay requests for the period between January to September 2010 was 5.2%, double its rejection rate for the same period in 2009.
Time to Pay agreements are part of the Business Payment Support Service (BPSS), which was launched in November 2008 to help businesses with short-term cash flow problems.
HMRC said in a statement: “Time To Pay continues to be available to help companies address short-term cash flow difficulties that result in an inability to pay their tax in full and on time. HMRC’s criteria for agreeing Time To Pay arrangements have not changed in any way.”
By the end of last month, some 395,400 Time to Pay arrangements, worth £6.83bn, had been granted.
Some 61% of Time to Pay arrangements were for a period of three months or fewer.