Partner Article

Reduction of Time to Pay could hit SMEs says advisory group

An advisory group has hit back at the HRMC, after new statistics showed a dramatic reduction in the number of businesses receiving support from the Time to Pay scheme.

UK Business Advisors has expressed concern that withdrawal of the service, which allows businesses to spread tax payments over several stages, could threaten the survival of many small businesses. The latest statistics show that HRMC are only granting Time to Pay at a third of the 2009 level.

Chris Scanlon at UK Business Advisors commented: “We need to keep Time to Pay in place as a way of helping businesses through these very turbulent economic times.”

HRMC have also announced that they no longer intend to publish statistics on the Time to Pay scheme, indicating their desire to avoid further dispute on the subject. While stopping the publication of figures will save money, it will also inhibit the implementation of any further improvements to the scheme.

Chris added: “The loss of this particular piece of information in the economic jigsaw is a cause for concern.

“The UK Business Advisors thoroughly endorse the publication of Key Performance Indicators to measure performance and thereby trigger appropriate actions.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .