Payment notices

It appears that HMRC has issued letters to some businesses advising them that they had not paid their VAT for the quarter ended 31 July 2019 by the due date despite the department having previously confirmed that a direct debit facility was in place. 

The letter which does not have an HMRC address or contact number on it says: ‘Our records show you have not paid your VAT … by the due date. This happened in the first few months after you joined the Making Tax Digital for VAT service. We want to give customers the opportunity to get used to the new system. This means we will not be issuing you a surcharge liability notice (SLN). However if you do not pay your VAT by the due date in the future we may send you an SLN.’