Late VAT Payment

J

Jess38

Guest
Hi,

I run a small business and I reckon, given cash flow, I will be late with this month's VAT - in total I will be no more than 2 - 3 weeks late with the payment.

What should I do to avoid penalties, fines etc?

Thanks for reading and for any replies.

Cheers.
 
@Jess38

You can contact Revenue - usually they will want you to file return even with a NIL payment - if you say 3 weeks just make sure its 3 weeks.

Noting that you appear to be Bi-Monthly - you could ask them will they put you on 6 month return etc if that helps.

Or you could do nothing and file late.
 
Thanks Wizard!

What's the worst that can happen if I make a late payment?
 
Jess38 said:
Thanks Wizard!

What's the worst that can happen if I make a late payment?
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Interest could be charged from the due date for payment up to the date you pay, at a rate of 0.0322% per day (that's 32cent per day, per 1,000 euro). You'd would be very unlikely to be charged interest on a first late payment, or on a payment where the interest is insignificant. Continuous late filing / payment could increase the likelihood of getting an audit.
 
Thank you for that.

So, it might be just best to file late, pay the full amount and hope for the best. I really do hope not to have this situation again - would one late payment be enough to trigger an audit? Or is a pattern of lateness required?
 
Jess38 said:
Thank you for that.

So, it might be just best to file late, pay the full amount and hope for the best. I really do hope not to have this situation again - would one late payment be enough to trigger an audit? Or is a pattern of lateness required?
Click to expand...

I'd expect you'd need to have a pattern of behaviour.

Don't file late as well as paying late - you have 2 separate obligations, one is to file a return and the other is to pay what's due. Filing late is one sin, and paying late another. If you know the figures you should always file on time, no point in doing 2 things wrong, when you need only do 1.
 
How small is a small business?

If your turnover is less than €1m then you should be paying VAT on a cash-receipts basis which should mean minimal cash-flow issues in the future.
 
@Jess38 - concurn with Mandletrot - you can always phone Revenue and whilst they wont be as clear they will suggets you make the return and then promise a date for payment. Take note of what DB74 is saying as there are useful options but you have to ask for them.
 
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