Making VAT Digital – When to sign up if paying by direct debit

Although Making VAT Digital (MVD) has now commenced for a lot of businesses, the process of submitting VAT returns to HMRC via the new system will not happen automatically. Each business must be aware of its obligation to sign up to MVD, and the date by which this must be done varies depending on how the business makes payments to HMRC.

The position is more straightforward for businesses that do not pay via direct debit, but for those that do pay using a direct debit, there are slightly more restrictions. Businesses submitting quarterly returns cannot sign up in the 5 working days immediately following the submission deadline of the final non-MVD return or in the 7 working days immediately before the due date for the first MVD return. So, for those businesses in ‘stagger 1’ (i.e. calendar quarter returns), sign up to MVD must take place between 15 May to 29 July 2019.

For further information on Making VAT Digital, please find HMRC’s Public Notice here, which was updated on 3 May 2019 to reflect some minor changes including commentary on the treatment of petty cash.

Please contact emailus@centurionvat.com if you would like to discuss these requirements further.