Vat Surcharge

[stuffed by the vat man]

the vat man makes a surcharge of 15% for late payments. comments please. can this be reclaimed ?

[Seminole]

Afraid not, at least not on the same basis as bank penalty charges. VAT surcharges are determined by statute wheras bank penalty charges are a matter of contract law.

 

The only ways of avoiding VAT surcharges are to demonstrate that they were applied in error or appeal to the better nature of the officer dealing with it.

[stuffed by the vat man]

how do you know this

[Seminole]

I'm an accountant.

[stuffed by the vat man]

they cashed my check on the 5th of the month and issued a surcharge notice on the 12th. i am refusing to pay.

[stuffed by the vat man]

there must be a way. its not that i cant pay but its so unjust.

[stuffed by the vat man]

i have today been threatened with bailiff action (i am a bailiff so that doesnt scare me). the vat man states that a distress warrant will be issued for the collection of "outstanding arrears of vat". my vat is paid up to date. so is this warrant valid ? comments please.

[Seminole]

I don't have my manuals here but this link http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageVAT_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000105&propertyType=document#P147_14674

 

tells you what you can do from Customs' perspective. If they choose to take a tough line with you, you can appeal, but there are times, I'm afraid that you have to swallow what they dish out. I work on the basis that they have to collect subtantial sums of money to be able to fund their extravagant pension scheme.

[stuffed by the vat man]

thanks but im not paying the******s. they can do their worst. its so unjust. they have written me one surcharge notice and charged me over 400 quid. Im not bloody paying !!

[Movingon]

When you get out, let us know what you thought of it in there...

[Michael Browne]

And for God's sake don't let on your a bailiff or you'll never get out in one piece

[Seminole]

It's at times such as these that I remember that I am at least notionally a Christian. If someone had suggested six months ago that I might be offering some tax guidance to a bailiff... well, I would have laughed.

 

In all seriousness, I hate the system as well but you have to pick your fights carefully and on ground of your choosing. Taking them on headlong is what they live for. You have to be subtler than that.

[stuffed by the vat man]

so that you all know, i am helping others with advice about bailiffs. anyway, got them on the run today by requesting a whole load of info which will take them an age to gather. they have put my case on hold

[stuffed by the vat man]

and i'm not paying.

[xfox]

How on earth did it get to 15%?

It it supposed to start from 2% and work it's way up to 15%

How many warnings did you get if any, seems very odd.