SAM60055 - Interest, penalties and surcharge: interest: effective date of payment

The effective date of payment (EDP) is the date on which payment is effective for the purposes of determining interest. It may also be used to calculate repayment supplement.

The EDP for different types of payment is shown in the following table


Payment type

Effective date of payment (EDP)

Cheque, postal order, cash

Normally the date of receipt of the payment by HMRC

but if the payment was received in the post following a day when the office was closed the EDP is the day the office was first closed.

For a payment received in Monday’s post, the EDP will normally be the previous Saturday.

However, if the previous Friday was a holiday then the EDP of a payment received in Monday’s post is the Friday.

If Monday is a holiday then payments received in Tuesday’s post are given an EDP of

  • The previous Saturday, or

If Friday was also a holiday,

  • The previous Friday

Post-dated cheque

The date of the cheque

BACS, CHAPS, Paymaster

One working day before value is received by HMRC

Bank Giro, and other credits received direct

Three working days prior to date of processing. (If not processed on date of receipt the EDP is the date of receipt)

Direct Debit

The day before collection day. (The collection day is the 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th of each month, or the next working day)

Girobank

The opening balance date shown on the Girobank statement. (In the case of the opening balance date being a Saturday, the EDP will be the previous Friday)