Businesses using IBAN to pay HMRC may have been unable to make payments by the due dates, as in February, HMRC changed its bank account details for organisations making payments using this method.
So what is IBAN? IBAN stands for “International Bank Account Number” and is a number attached to all accounts in the EU countries plus Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Hungary. The IBAN is made up of a code that identifies the country the account belongs to, the account holder's bank and the account number itself.
Whilst used primarily for payments being made to HMRC outside of the UK, it is used by some domestic employers. It is estimated that millions of pounds in VAT and Corporation Tax remains unpaid as a result of this change which employers are saying was poorly handled by HMRC with those employers receiving very amateurish letters which they took to be a scam, bearing in mind HMRC have been warning employers about scams for some time now.
In addition, despite an HMRC Bulleting advising employers that they would be given details in due course, it now transpires that some employers were not told.
As a result, employers have been shredding the letters and tens of millions of pounds in VAT and corporation tax due to the Government since February has not been paid to HMRC. But, importantly, employers have been receiving penalty notices which should not be ignored.
HMRC commented “HMRC’s move to a new bank will be invisible to most customers, who will not need to do anything different when sending payment to HMRC. Customers paying from overseas will need to update their payment details. Anyone experiencing difficulties in making payments should contact HMRC immediately.”
