Amending or setting up a direct debit plan
Direct debit is used by many individuals and businesses to pay their taxes. HMRC has posted two warnings about problems in its system.
Self assessment
If individual taxpayers need to amend a monthly direct debit plan online, they should do so between the 1st and the 23rd of the month. HMRC is aware of a fault which can stop an amendment made in the final week of the month reaching the taxpayer’s bank. The fault will be fixed and full service restored in April 2011.
PAYE
Make sure you use the correct ‘Payment Reference’ when setting up a direct debit online for PAYE. If you enter an incorrect reference, you may receive confirmation of the transaction but it could be delayed or cancelled if HMRC cannot locate the correct reference.
To ensure your direct debit is accepted without delay, you are advised to use the HMRC Payment Reference Checker to obtain your 13 character ‘Payment Reference’. The ‘Payment Reference’ contains two capital letters; do not type them in lower case because it is case sensitive.
A useful page on the revamped HMRC website provides links to when and how the different taxes should be paid.