From the 16 December 2011 HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will be able to accept payment via the Faster Payment Service (FPS).
This guidance will provide you with useful information on what to do when making a payment to HMRC, using this service and what will happen if your payment is late.
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The Faster Payment Service (FPS) is a service that has been introduced by the banking industry for sending payments initiated by internet/telephone banking and standing order. The beneficiary receives the payment on the same or next day, provided that the value of the payment does not exceed the limit set by the bank sending the payment.
In order for a payment to be sent using FPS both the sending and receiving banks must be participating members of the scheme.
CHAPS will continue to be used for high-value payments.
You will need to contact your bank/building society to check:
If you try using FPS to make an immediate payment that exceeds your bank’s value limit it may be rejected by your bank’s system, you will then need to use an alternative payment method.
It is important that you check with your bank/building society well in advance to find out how they deal with transactions that cannot be processed via FPS. This will help to avoid your payment to HMRC being delayed.
Information about Faster Payment limits(Opens new window)
When making a payment to HMRC please make sure you always use the correct bank account details and reference number, and that your bank has confirmed that your payment has been made successfully. This will ensure that your payment is received, and will help to avoid you incurring a penalty, interest or surcharge for late payment.
It is your responsibility to ensure that payments are made on time, whichever payment method you use.
You must ensure that payments reach HMRC’s bank account by the due date, or another date agreed in advance with HMRC. Payments received after this time could result in a late payment interest, surcharges or penalties being charged. HMRC will not waive these where payments are late because you haven’t made sure payments will reach them on time.
