HM Revenue & Customs' Business Payment Support Service
(BPSS) has helped 17,700 East Midlands businesses reschedule
£291 million of tax in its first 15 months, new figures
reveal today.
The BPSS gives viable businesses, experiencing temporary
difficulties paying their taxes, the opportunity to reschedule
their tax payments to a more affordable timetable, as part of a
'time to pay' arrangement. These arrangements can cover PAYE,
National Insurance, VAT or any other HMRC taxes.
In total, around 300,000 time to pay arrangements worth
£5.13 billion have been agreed by HMRC since the launch of
BPSS in November 2008 - an average of more than 4,500 every week -
including 17,700 made by businesses in the East Midlands
including:
Number of Arrangements Total Value
Derby 980 £14 million
Derbyshire 3,720 £60 million
Leicester 1,220 £23 million
Nottingham 1,080 £20 million
Nottinghamshire 3,450 £57
million
Leicestershire 3,580 £57
million
Northamptonshire 3,660 £58
million
Businesses from a wide range of different industries have
arranged time to pay agreements through the BPSS - everything from
retail, tourism, transport and leisure to farming, manufacturing,
construction and engineering.
Welcoming the figures, Financial Secretary to the Treasury
Stephen Timms said:
"It is excellent news that the Business Payment Support Service
continues to provide much needed help to UK businesses, with over
£5 billion now rescheduled and over 160,000 businesses helped
and a very high level of payment, in line with the agreements
reached.
"The scheme will remain in place as long as necessary, as we
want to continue to help businesses through the difficulties they
are facing, because small businesses are the backbone of the
British economy and have a vital part to play in our economic
recovery."
The BPSS helpline can be contacted on 0845 302 1435 from 8am to
8pm, Monday to Friday, and from 8am to 4pm at weekends.
When contacting the BPSS, callers should ensure they have the
following information to hand:
• Tax reference number;
• Details of the tax you are having, or will
have, trouble paying; and
• When you expect to be able to pay the
tax.