Q: I am a self-employed person and my business accepts credit card payments. However, I have been having sleepless nights recently as I have realised that I did not provide my accountant with all of the payment details. Is there anything I can do?
A: You are in luck. HM Revenue & Customs has just launched a Credit Cards Sales campaign. This gives all business individuals, partnerships and companies that accept credit and debit cards, but have not included all of their transactions in either their personal or company tax return, the ability to bring their affairs up to date in a simple straightforward way, while being able to take advantage of the best possible terms.
The Credit Card Sales campaign is a voluntary disclosure scheme and there is currently no end date for it. To take advantage of the scheme you need to notify HMRC that you wish to take part by completing a notification form. You should then complete a disclosure form and pay over what you owe to HMRC within four months of receiving an acknowledgement from them. If you need more time to pay then you should discuss your options with HMRC.
A condition of using the Credit Card Sales Campaign is that you include all of the income and gains you have previously not told HMRC about in the disclosure as well as that from credit and/or debit cards.
If you do not make a voluntary disclosure you could face a higher penalty or criminal prosecution at a later stage, so it is worth taking advantage of the campaign. HMRC warns that it has details of all credit and debit card payments made to UK businesses and will use the information to identify individuals, partnerships and companies that might have underpaid their tax liabilities.
You can still make a disclosure and put your tax affairs in order even if you are not within the scope of this particular campaign as you may be eligible under another of the campaigns still running. If not the favourable terms will not be available. However, you can expect a lower penalty than that normally imposed if you make a full and voluntary disclosure of all unpaid liabilities.
Ben Chaplin is managing director of Taxwise
Information: Further details regarding the Credit Card Sales campaign can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/credit-card-sales-campaign-your-guide-to-making-a-disclosure
