06 July 2020
On 24 June, we blogged about the possibility of taxpayers deferring their July 2020 payments on account in circumstances where they were (using HMRC’s terminology) ‘struggling to pay due to COVID-19’. In the couple of weeks since, there has been growing consternation within the accounting industry that many taxpayers and some advisers are viewing this deferral as being open to everyone, regardless of their financial circumstances.
This is not the case.
Whilst HMRC have not published guidance on what they mean by ‘struggling to pay’ or ‘finding it hard to pay’ due to COVID-19, they did publish examples last week of what ‘adversely affected’ means in the context of the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS), which you can view here.
If you are intending to defer your July 2020 payment, we would expect you to be able to demonstrate that you were struggling to pay, if asked at a later date to do so by HMRC. Referring to the SEISS examples of ‘adversely affected’ may be of use in forming that opinion.
If you are unsure of your best course of action, as always, please speak to your usual UHY adviser, or contact us here to be put in touch with one of our local experts.
