Accountants and financial advisers are warning that clients are increasingly struggling to pay tax bills, with Corporation Tax the biggest concern.
New research from Premium Credit suggests the number estimating that at least 15% of clients found it difficult to pay tax bills (37%) has more than doubled from three years ago (16%).
Premium Credit’s research also found almost all (95%) accountants and financial advisers surveyed who advise on tax are seeing a rise in clients struggling to pay tax bills, with nearly half (45%) saying they are seeing an increase of between 10% and 14%.
Around half (50%) say the biggest increase is in clients struggling to pay Corporation Tax, with 26% saying the biggest increase is in relation to VAT bills and 24% pointing to income tax. That is a switch from last year’s research, which saw income tax as the biggest issue cited by 70% of those questioned.
The average value of tax bills that clients are struggling to pay is around £65,000, with the survey finding accountants and financial advisers split on the reasons why clients are struggling to pay bills.
Economic factors including tax rises, wage inflation, supply costs and general cost of living pressures were ranked as having the same influence as personal issues such as divorce and redundancy.
The research found accountants and financial advisers are seeing growing use of HMRC’s Time to Pay (TTP) scheme, which allows eligible businesses extra time to repay tax arrears usually over a period of three to six months.
Currently 62% of accountants and financial advisers say 5% or more of their clients use TTP compared with 25% citing its use in last year’s study. However within three years nearly seven out of 10 (69%) believe 5% or more of their clients will be using it.
Jennie Hill, Chief Commercial Officer, Specialist Finance, at Premium Credit, said:
“Accountants and financial advisers are facing a growing issue with clients struggling to pay tax bills, which is likely to have a knock-on effect on the financial strength of these businesses and ultimately whether they can survive. Engaging early with clients facing tax problems and offering practical solutions such as spreading the cost into convenient monthly payments will obviously help them, but it would also help accountants and financial advisers to protect their own businesses.”
