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HMRC Payment Helplines – VAT, Corporation Tax, PAYE
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How to contact HMRC for help with company tax problems
HMRC has a number of helplines and other contact channels open to directors who are having issues with their tax obligations. Knowing who to call and when can help you get an answer to your problem much sooner.
HMRC payment helplines: VAT, corporation tax, payroll
HMRC rules and regulations can seem complicated and confusing, and this can often lead to sole traders, business owners and company directors making mistakes that could cost them dearly in the future. However HMRC has a number of ways that it tries to offer help to people so that they don’t end up falling foul of the system. It provides online help on it’s website in the form of guides, videos and webinars, and you can also get personalised assistance via either phone, post, online forms or through live web chats.
There are also a number of phone help lines that you can use to get advice from HMRC, especially if you need to pay your HMRC VAT bill, pay your HMRC corporation tax bill, or pay your HMRC payroll bill such as PAYE or NI collected from your employees.
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HMRC VAT Helpline
General Enquiries
If you have any general enquiries about VAT, HMRC operate a dedicated VAT advice service.
- Phone: 0300 200 3700 (from outside the UK: +44 2920 501 261)
Lines are open 8am-6pm Monday-Friday - Webchat: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/vat-enquiries
- Online Enquiry: https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/shortforms/form/VATGenEnq?dept-name=&sub-dept-name=&location=47
- Post: HM Revenue and Customs - VAT Written Enquiries Team
Alexander House
21 Victoria Avenue
Southend-On-Sea
SS99 1BD
United Kingdom
How to pay your VAT
If you want to pay your VAT bill then this can be done via any of the below methods, but please note that you cannot pay directly over the phone. To pay your VAT bill you can either:
- Pay online, via telephone banking or BACS using the following account details, you will need your 9-digit VAT registration number:
-Sort Code: 08 32 00 - Pay online, via telephone banking or BACS using the following account details, you will need your 9-digit VAT registration number:
- Sort Code: 08 32 00
- Account Number: 11963155
- Account Name: HMRC VAT
- Pay via the CHAPS system, using the account details above.
- Pay via online via a debit card or corporate credit card – note that you cannot pay using a personal credit card
- Set up a Direct Debit to automatically collect VAT payments from your bank account 3 days after your VAT payment deadline. You can set this up using your VAT online account or using form VAT 623.
- Directly at your bank or building society. You will need to order paying-in slips either online or via phone from HMRC at least 6 weeks before you need to pay the money in. You will need your 9 digit VAT registration number.
- By Standing Order if you use the Annual Accounting Scheme or make VAT payments on account. You must apply to HMRC for permission to do this, once this is received you will need to set up your standing order either online or via telephone banking into the account details mentioned above, or use form VAT 622.
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HMRC Corporation Tax Helpline
General Enquiries
If you have any general enquiries about Corporation Tax, HMRC operate a dedicated Corporation Tax advice service. You will need to quote your 10-digit Unique Tax Reference when you call/write.
- Phone: 0300 200 3410 (from outside the UK: +44 151 268 0571)
Lines are open 8am-6pm Monday-Friday
- Post: Corporation Tax Services
HM Revenue and Customs
BX9 1AX
United Kingdom
How to pay your Corporation Tax
If your taxable profits are more than £1.5 million then you must pay your Corporation Tax in instalments. If your total taxable profits are under £1.5 million then you must pay your Corporation Tax bill 9 months and 1 day after the end of your accounting period. In this case then you can pay your Corporation Tax bill via any of the below methods, but please note that you cannot pay directly over the phone.
To pay your Corporation Tax bill you can either:
- Pay online, via telephone banking or BACS using the following account details for the office from which you received your Corporation Tax payslip, you will need your 17-character Corporation Tax payslip reference for the accounting period you’re paying:
- Account Name: HMRC Cumbernauld
- Sort Code: 083210
- Account Number: 12001039
- Account Name: HMRC Shipley
- Sort Code: 083210
- Account Number: 12001020
To pay from an overseas account you should use the following details:
- Account Name: HMRC Cumbernauld
- Account Number: (IBAN): GB62BARC20114770297690
- Bank Identifier Code: (BIC): BARCGB22
- Account Name: HMRC Shipley
- Account Number: (IBAN): GB03BARC20114783977692
- Bank Identifier Code: (BIC): BARCGB22
- Pay via the CHAPS system, using the account details above to either the Cumbernauld office or the Shipley office.
- Pay online via a debit card or corporate credit card – note that you cannot pay using a personal credit card; you will need your 17-character Corporation Tax payslip reference for the accounting period you’re paying.
- Pay online via a debit card or corporate credit card – note that you cannot pay using a personal credit card; you will need your 17-character Corporation Tax payslip reference for the accounting period you’re paying.
- Directly at your bank or building society. You will need the payslip that HMRC sent you. Make cheques payable to ‘HM Revenue and Customs only’ followed by your 17-character Corporation Tax payslip reference for the accounting period you’re paying.
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Inform HMRC that you don’t owe any Corporation Tax
If you do not owe any Corporation Tax for the current period then you must inform HMRC or they will continue to send you payment reminders. You can either:
- Complete the ‘Nil to Pay’ form - you will need the 17 character reference on the Corporation Tax payslip that you received.
- Return the Corporation Tax payslip that you received to HMRC marked ‘NIL due’.
HMRC Payroll Helpline
General Enquiries
If you are an employer and have any general enquiries about Payroll, HMRC operate a dedicated Payroll advice service.
- Phone: 0300 200 3200 (from outside the UK: +44 151 268 0558)
Lines are open 8am-8pm Monday-Friday and 8am-4pm on Saturdays - Webchat: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/employer-enquiries
- Post: National Insurance Contributions and Employers Office
HM Revenue and Customs
BX9 1BX
United Kingdom - Online Form: HMRC provide structured email forms for
General enquiries for new employers
There is also a dedicated service for new employers:
- Phone: 0300 200 3211
Lines are open 8am-8pm Monday-Friday and 8am-4pm on Saturdays - Post: National Insurance Contributions and Employers Office
HM Revenue and Customs
BX9 1BX
United Kingdom
Need to speak to someone?
If your company is struggling with unmanageable debts, squeezed cash flow, or an uncertain future, you are far from alone. We speak to company directors just like you every single day, and we are here to give you the help and advice you need.
Call our team today on 0800 644 6080
Make PAYE or NI payments
If you are an employer and wish to make your PAYE or National Insurance payments, you can either:
- Online: You can apply to make a single payment via CHAPS for multiple PAYE schemes (called multiple or composite payments)
- Post: HMRC
Direct
BX5 5BD
United Kingdom
HMRC also operates a dedicated helpline for general advice about how to pay your employees’ PAYE or to order payslip booklets. Please note that you cannot make payments via this phone line.
- Phone: 0300 200 3401 (from outside the UK: +44 15 0647 6066)
HMRC Call Waiting Times
HMRC deals with 45 million individuals and more than 5.4 million businesses and each year it receives more than 50 million phone calls and 12 million letters and the news is often full of stories about the incredibly long waiting times for HMRC phone lines and postal replies. However HMRC have recently invested in significantly higher levels of staff to try and deal with enquiries more efficiently.
The individual contact pages generally include information about the best times to call those specific lines, but in general a recent study found that waiting times were shortest between 8.30am-9.30am and between 12noon-12.30pm, whereas they were longest between 4.30pm-5.00pm.
HMRC have also published figures showing the contact and response figures for 2022-23:
- Phone Calls
- 3,020,268 calls were received
- Average speed on answer on phones was 16 minutes
- A total of 69.5% of calls were handled
- Post
- 72.7% of customer correspondence was completed within 15 working days.
If you are struggling to pay your VAT, corporation tax, payroll or any other HMRC bill then contact Real Business Rescue today. Our business recovery and turnaround experts have nearly 30 years’ experience working with companies that are experiencing financial difficulties, taking the time to understand your situation before offering practical advice about how to move forward.
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