July is one of those big tax-paying months for your clients...
- Your self-employed clients need to pay their income tax and class4 NIC on-account payment for 2010/11 by 31 July.
- A limited company client with a 30 September 2010 year end must pay its corporation tax by 1 July 2011.
- Employers must pay class 1A NICs on benefits by 19 July.
- Quarterly payments of PAYE are due by the same date. Monthly payments of PAYE and CIS deductions are due by 19th of every month, or by 22nd if paying electronically.
If your client will not be able to pay the tax due on time they should contact the Tax Office business payment support line (0845 302 1435) without delay. Once the tax due is actually late, even by a day, it is much more difficult to negotiate a reasonable payment plan with the Taxman.
The Taxman is now very keen to chase every penny of tax owed, and your client will start to receive aggressively worded letters if they don't pay on time. If your client does not react or pay promptly they will receive telephone calls and possibly personal visits from professional debt collectors. The situation can escalate quite quickly into bailiffs being authorised to seize your clients goods, or a court judgement being enforced.
If your client does receive a letter demanding tax due, they should not ignore it. Even if they believe there is nothing owed they need to sort the situation before the heavies turn up!
