VAT Payments
When VAT payments are due, how to pay HMRC, and what happens when you miss a payment deadline.
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VAT payment dates UK
VAT payment dates are usually one calendar month and seven days after quarter end. See standard dates, Direct Debit timing, and payments on account rules.
How to pay VAT
The four main ways to pay VAT to HMRC: Direct Debit, online banking, debit card, and standing order. Plus how long each takes to clear.
When VAT must be paid
Cleared funds by one month and seven days after the period end — the same date as the return. Direct debit is the exception that helps: set it up and HMRC collects about three working days after the deadline, automatically, which also removes the risk of simply forgetting.
Weekends matter: a standard transfer made on a Friday deadline can land late. Faster Payments settle same day; Bacs takes three working days; on the deadline itself, only same-day methods are safe.
How to pay
Direct debit from your VAT account (once, then automatic), Faster Payments or CHAPS to HMRC's VAT account using your nine-digit VAT number as the reference, debit or corporate credit card online, or standing arrangements under annual accounting. Personal credit cards are not accepted.
The reference is the VAT registration number, nothing else — a misreferenced payment sits unallocated while your account accrues 'debt' that does not exist.
Late payment: how the cost builds
Interest runs daily from the due date. Penalties then layer on top by lateness: nothing extra if paid within 15 days, a first penalty once payment passes 15 days that doubles in weight at 30 days, then an annualised daily penalty from day 31 onwards.
The design rewards speed twice: paying — or arranging Time to Pay — within the first 15 days keeps the penalty at zero, and within 30 days keeps it to the first band.
If the VAT money is not there
Contact HMRC before the deadline and propose Time to Pay — arranged in time, it stops the penalty clock at the point of arrangement. VAT attracts faster enforcement than most taxes because it is money collected from customers on HMRC's behalf, so silence is read badly.
Recurring VAT shortfalls are a business-model signal, not a payment-admin problem: it usually means VAT collected is funding operating costs. Separating VAT into a dedicated account as it is collected is the single habit that ends the quarterly scramble.
Frequently asked questions
Is the VAT deadline the same for filing and paying?
Yes — one month and seven days after the period end for both, with direct debit collected a few days later automatically. Filing on time but paying late still triggers the late-payment regime, and vice versa.
What reference do I use when paying VAT?
Your nine-digit VAT registration number, no letters, no spaces. Using an invoice number or company name instead is the most common cause of 'missing' VAT payments.
Can I get Time to Pay for VAT?
Yes, and moving fast pays: an arrangement made within 15 days of the due date keeps late-payment penalties at zero. Have your figures ready — what is owed, what you can pay now, monthly amounts — and keep filing on time throughout.
What happens if I repeatedly pay VAT late?
Interest and layered penalties each period, escalating enforcement attention, and potentially a notice requiring security for future VAT — a deposit, effectively, with criminal exposure for trading without it. Repeated lateness is the pattern HMRC acts on hardest.