Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing statutory provisions to enable small businesses to pay their taxes in flexible instalments.

Small businesses are already able to pay their taxes in flexible instalments. There is flexibility in Value Added Tax (VAT), Pay as You Earn (PAYE) Income Tax, and Income Tax Self-Assessment (ITSA).

The VAT Annual Accounting Scheme, open to all businesses with taxable supplies of less than £1.35 million (excluding VAT), allows small businesses to make payments on a monthly or quarterly basis.

Small businesses with PAYE liabilities lower than £1,500 per month can choose whether to make quarterly payments or make monthly payments, usually in line with their real-time information returns.

Small businesses with ITSA liabilities can make monthly or weekly payments toward their next ITSA bill through the Budget Payment Plan.

More details are available at the following links:

https://www.gov.uk/vat-annual-accounting-scheme

https://www.gov.uk/paye-for-employers

https://www.gov.uk/pay-self-assessment-tax-bill/pay-weekly-monthly