Quarterly VAT payment: Card v Direct Debit

[Spoiler]

Picking up on something in the 'Company credit card' thread ...

Ltd currently pays its quarterly VAT bill via direct debit.
I'm thinking of trying out paying by card this time around - Curve linked to a personal credit card. Making multiple payments due to daily Curve limits.

Is it going to work to leave the DD in place? Just as a backup in case I don't make the payments.

Thinking of how I would pay off a credit card bill - usually, the full amount is taken by DD. But if on occasion I pay a lump sum off early, then the DD amount taken is altered to cater for the lump sum payment.

Assuming that the VAT DD would be the same - if I pay it off early via card, then the DD won't collect. But, that's an assumption! Has anyone done this and what happened?

[krytonsheep]

If you pay by card, prior to the DD coming out, I would talk to HMRC to see if their system is clever enough to handle that.

Mixing company card / personal credit card via Curve sounds a bit dodgy / confusing from an accounts perspective. I would have a chat with an accountant before trying to do anything like that.

[zonkkk]

It was a couple of years ago now, but I forgot I had setup DD for VAT and I paid it via Bank Transfer... Surprise/Surprise two weeks later the DD was taken as well.

I asked for return of the money. They sent a cheque in a few weeks time.

[ladymuck]

I wouldn't trust HMRC to be that clever.

[Spoiler]

I wouldn't trust HMRC to be that clever.

Hmm, okay sounds like cancelling the DD is the safer option, thanks !

[Spoiler]

Just looking at how one would log in Free Agent paying company taxes with a personal debit/credit card (i.e. using Curve).

Just transfer the money from my Ltd's account to my personal account and mark the transaction as a Payment of VAT/Corp tax ?

You can't add an Expense for Tax payment

[DZ2]

Just looking at how one would log in Free Agent paying company taxes with a personal debit/credit card (i.e. using Curve).

Just transfer the money from my Ltd's account to my personal account and mark the transaction as a Payment of VAT/Corp tax ?

You can't add an Expense for Tax payment

I've been paying all company taxes (VAT and corporation tax) with my personal debit card lately, just for the sake of earning free air miles. For FreeAgent, I just ask my accountant to adjust the records and he does it via Journal entries somehow.

[kryten22uk]

Just looking at how one would log in Free Agent paying company taxes with a personal debit/credit card (i.e. using Curve).

Just transfer the money from my Ltd's account to my personal account and mark the transaction as a Payment of VAT/Corp tax ?

You can't add an Expense for Tax payment

I asked Free agent, and they said that I should log a manual adjustment to the relevant tax paid code, then log a simultaneous manual adjustment for money paid into director loan account. Thus no net effect on company cash balance. When you do actually repay yourself, you "explain" in freeagent the cash outgo as payment from director loan account. This could be on same day, afterwards or even before, it doesn't matter. End result after the two manual adjustments and the one real outgo, is cash out to the value of the tax, tax recorded as paid, and nil impact on loan account.

I also asked freeagent about the shortcut you suggest, and you 'could' save the two manual adjustments and just "explain" the cash outgo as tax paid to HMRC, but it's not really where that cash went. So they stated I should do the fuller approach above.