26 May 2009
Six months on from the start of the UK Government's tax deferral service, companies in Scotland are deferring almost £1 million in tax a day, new figures published today reveal.
The service run by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) provides help to companies by allowing them to delay tax payments and improve their cash flow situation. Since last November £155 million is tax payments from Scottish companies have been deferred.
The Secretary Of State for Scotland, Jim Murphy said that by deferring tax of almost £1million a day for Scottish businesses the Government was providing real help at a time when it is most needed.
The Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland welcomed the help being provided with their Scottish Policy Convener, Andy Willox saying it was 'providing much-needed breathing space' for small firms.
One Fife based family business who has benefited from the scheme said:
"If it wasn't for HMRC being flexible, we would have been in a serious cash flow problem. I am so grateful for the flexibility they offered as well as their helpful approach and would certainly want to see this attitude continue."
The figures published today show that HMRC has agreed to defer tax payments in 8380 Scottish cases totalling £155 million. The tax payments include Corporation Tax, VAT and PAYE. The figures are broken down by each local authority and range from 20 cases in Shetland totalling less than £1 million in tax to 990 cases in Glasgow worth £26 million.
Jim Murphy said:
"I know from speaking to companies in Scotland that they value this help greatly. That is demonstrated by the amount of payments they are agreeing to defer. Since the service started in November companies have postponed payments of almost £1m a day. This is real help for companies at a time when it is most needed. The Government is supporting companies in a number of other ways and will continue to do so."
The Federation of Small Businesses, Scottish Policy Convener, Andy Willox OBE, said:
"Common sense measures such as these can give small firms some much-needed breathing space. Cash-flow remains the number one issue for many otherwise perfectly viable small businesses and this flexibility means that small businesses don't have to try to access expensive finance just to meet an arbitrary deadline. I'm not surprised that it has proved popular and would urge all small firms who think it may be able to benefit from the scheme to contact HMRC for more details."