Where a business is experiencing cash flow problems, it may be able to make an agreement with HMRC's Business Payment Support Service (BPSS) to defer PAYE and CIS payments.

Where such an agreement is made, the overdue amount does not count as a black mark on the CIS compliance record.

However, a recent case has arisen whereby a business made such an agreement which was not then notified to HMRC's debt management service, which resulted in the business being chased unnecessarily.  The business had no record of the call and therefore had to rely on the Finance Director’s recollection of the Agreement. 

It is therefore imperative that any construction industry businesses who need to use the BPSS should take the precaution of noting the name of the person they speak to, the office, the date and time of the call and any other details by which the conversation can later be identified.

Posted on 23 Feb 2010