HMRC Ban credit card oayments

chattychappy

!!! wrote: »

You should have the money (cash) put aside to pay your tax.

That's just poor money management

You could use that argument for saying people shouldn't use credit at all. You know you're going to have to do a supermarket shop, so you should have put the cash aside. In this case, it was very good management if the OP was paying later instead of earlier and picking up cashback/airmiles along the way. Even better if this cashflow advantage was being used to build a business.

Businesses plan cashflow - in this case the OP was used to not having to have the cashflow for tax bills which hit at certain dates. Perhaps with more warning of the change, he would plan differently.

As a taxpayer, CC acceptance is very good for me too if HMRC gets the tax up front and the burden of debt chasing shifts to CCs.

Personally I resent this interference in the freedom to contract. Provided charges are clear and transparent, I think businesses should be able to offer differential pricing, particularly if they are in a low margin business (eg flight tickets) and let consumers make their choice. If you're willing to pay up front by a cheap method - debit card, bank transfer, perhaps cash, then why shouldn't you get a better price? Here HMRC were merely passing on the real, and very low cost (in their case) of CC acceptance.

eskbanker

brewerdave wrote: »

I think it unlikely that the holiday cos. will refuse payment by cc. Too much business to be lost !!

Agreed - also, holiday companies have the freedom to adjust their pricing to accommodate the removal of the surcharging option (whereas tax bills are transparently fixed), so chances are that they'll already have built this into their pricing models, reflecting the fact that, in the absence of CC surcharging, this is now likely to be a much more appealing payment method for most people.

tastyhog

so what has happened to the tax and VAT if applicable that you have already got and have been putting aside to pay your tax bill?

chattychappy

eskbanker wrote: »

Agreed - also, holiday companies have the freedom to adjust their pricing to accommodate the removal of the surcharging option (whereas tax bills are transparently fixed), so chances are that they'll already have built this into their pricing models, reflecting the fact that, in the absence of CC surcharging, this is now likely to be a much more appealing payment method for most people.

Not as much "freedom" as they had before to charge a surcharge or offer a discount as the please!! An independant agency I use for flight tickets says he will still offer lower pricing to people like me that pay by bank transfer (or debit card).

tastyhog wrote: »

so what has happened to the tax and VAT if applicable that you have already got and have been putting aside to pay your tax bill?

I don't know any business that dutifully "sets aside" funds as you suggest. The exception would be where you operate a true client account (eg as a solicitor) where you always you never own the funds in question and must keep them separately accounted for.

In the OP's case, perhaps the VAT he has charged on invoices hasn't been paid yet... perhaps he's financing his business with it by paying down an overdraft. Perhaps the business is seasonal and tax bills just happen to hit at the worst time of the cylcle (though to some extent you can change tax/vat periods).

Many businesses leave these calculations until the last minute and then don't have the monies available (or find they have more than enough). Corporation tax is sufficiently complicated that unless you are an accountant, it can be a little unpredictable what you have to pay. In my own case, my accountant has just calculated my corporation tax which is payable in a month or so and it is much less that I expected because I had forgotten that a large chunk of income this year was accrued for in the previous year. These things happen.

So, for many businesses, tax bills fall due at various times just as other bills fall due. When cash is tight, you prioritise and take advantage of paying by CC if you can.

Weybridge78

badmemory wrote: »

You can also expect to stop being able to pay for your holiday by cc as they have been chargers for this for a long time. We can't expect someone else to fund us because we can't afford to pay & that is what it boils down to now.

This is a bit of an asinine comment to make isn't it?

badmemory

Weybridge78 wrote: »

This is a bit of an asinine comment to make isn't it?

You may think so I don't. It may also cause a problem for some who may no longer be able to pay by cc for other things that normally charge for using a credit card. A charge which many may be prepared to pay to get them protection.

To be clear, I have absolutely nothing against credit cards (well apart from the mess some people can get themselves into with them) and use mine for everything possible. Always pay it off, get cashback, get interest on the money for an extra month approx in savings, what's not to like?

The big stores factor in the cc charges in their prices, we can't expect HMRC to do that or other gov bodies. If holiday cos remove the cc charges, then I will pay for my holiday by cc, but as their charges were quite large if they absorb them then anyone who doesn't or can't pay by cc is being ripped off.

eskbanker

chattychappy wrote: »

Not as much "freedom" as they had before to charge a surcharge or offer a discount as the please!!

Agreed - I was comparing holiday companies with HMRC rather than their own previous position. I know where you're coming from on this and agree with your overall sentiment regarding the validity of surcharges, but they just became so discredited by their lack of transparency that something had to give, even though this wasn't the victory for consumers that some seemed to believe it would be!

chattychappy wrote: »

An independant agency I use for flight tickets says he will still offer lower pricing to people like me that pay by bank transfer (or debit card).

I can understand why businesses would be tempted to do this but understood it to be against the new regulations in that discounting for certain payment types is obviously equivalent to surcharging for others....

chattychappy

eskbanker wrote: »

I can understand why businesses would be tempted to do this but understood it to be against the new regulations in that discounting for certain payment types is obviously equivalent to surcharging for others....

I think his point was that he will simply ignore the law. He won't overtly advertise discounts/surcharges, but if people haggle - or for people he knows well and gives special pricing, then he'll do a deal for non-CC.

redux

!!! wrote: »

You should have the money (cash) put aside to pay your tax.

That's just poor money management

It's an ideal use for monthly savings accounts, some of which pay decent rates of interest.

Samsung_Note2

badmemory wrote: »

It may have been an unintended consequence but it was a totally expected one.

If you pay your road tax by cc then expect that facility to be withdrawn too.

You can also expect to stop being able to pay for your holiday by cc as they have been chargers for this for a long time. We can't expect someone else to fund us because we can't afford to pay & that is what it boils down to now.

Jet2Holidays dont charge % for booking via credit card.:D