Revenue sees surge in VAT overpayment claims
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said it had received an ‘unprecedented’ surge in claims from around 13,000 businesses ahead of its end of March deadline.
The sudden influx follows an earlier decision by the Government to give firms up to three years to make an overpayment claim, instead of the six years permitted previously. Following the move, the House of Lords ruled that companies could make any additional backdated claims until the end of March.
To date HMRC has repaid £1.5bn, while a further £4.5bn has been reserved for those claims still being assessed.
Yet Revenue officials stated that about 60% of the claims received had not qualified for a refund.
Commenting, Chas Roy-Chowdhury from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, said: ‘The lesson for any Government is that they should not just make changes retrospectively to tax laws without thinking through the consequences.’