Saturday
Nov 22nd
| Businesses should be ‘encouraged’ to pay tax on time |
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Measures need to be taken to encourage more businesses to pay their tax bills by the due date, the Commons Public Accounts Committee has said. Late payments total £1.5 billion each year, and tardy payers are having an effect on government income. Some 85 per cent of VAT returns are filed on time and 77 per cent of company tax returns. However, Edward Leigh, the Committee’s chairman, described the level of on-time filing as too low. Mr Leigh said: “Far too many businesses are failing to file their company tax and VAT returns on time and to pay what they owe by the due date.” He went on to say that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) “must be much better informed about the types of business which tend to be late in filing and slow in paying up”. To help boost the percentage of businesses that meet the due dates, the Committee recommended non-financial incentives for those that paid on time. These included tax clearance certificates that would then enable firms to apply for public service contracts. HMRC said it would look at the proposals contained in the Committee’s report. However, HMRC added that a review of its online service indicated that the emphasis should be on handling the large numbers of users at peak times instead of offering extra incentives for payments made by the correct date. |
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