Direct Repayment of VAT to Customers Bank/Building Society Account

Issue 26 of Tax Briefing gave details of the system introduced by the Collector-General whereby VAT registered traders can have their repayments made directly to a nominated Bank or Building Society account.

This system has three important benefits for our customers:

• It provides a more secure method of receiving repayments
• It is unaffected by any vagaries in the postal system
• It ensures greater efficiency in the service the Collector-General provides in making repayments.

Confirmation of the crediting of the customer’s nominated Bank or Building Society account is sent to the customer when that account is credited.

The Collector-General intends to extend this system to all VAT registered customers and to end the system of repayment by cheque very shortly . Customers and practitioners who have not done so should ensure, without delay, that Bank or Building Society Account details to which repayments can be credited are sent to the Collector-General - these details can be included on the VAT 3 return form. This will ensure that there is no delay in receiving repayments of VAT when the cheque repayment system is ended.