DMBM802730 - Time To Pay: partnership Time To Pay requests: dealing with Time To Pay requests

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When dealing with a request for a partnership arrangement you will need to establish that the customer meets the conditions for a partnership arrangement.

DMTC

DMTC collectors are currently unable to deal with partnership TTP requests. When they receive a TTP request from a caller for multiple partners they will:

  • note the name of who is calling and their relationship to the partnership
  • obtain the partnership name and Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR)
  • obtain the names and UTRs of the individual partners
  • record the total amount of money outstanding and details of any other HMRC debts
  • note the caller’s telephone number
  • wrap the case or set a next action BF code for the Campaign DTO to review the case
  • advise the caller that we will contact them to discuss their request.

Other offices

When you first receive a request for a partnership arrangement you should ask the representative

  • Their name and relationship to the partnership
  • The partnership name and Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR)
  • The name and UTRs of the individual partners
  • The total amount of money outstanding and details of any other HMRC debt that the partnership has

Where there are lots of partners involved you can ask the customer to fax the relevant information to you. When you have received this information you must check to make sure that we hold written authority to discuss the request with the person who has contacted us and you should check each partner’s record to ensure that they meet the conditions to be included in a partnership arrangement.

Written authority to discuss a partnership arrangement

When dealing with a TTP request you will need to consider if the person you have been contacted by has the authority to act on behalf of the individual partners requesting TTP.

Partnerships can have a variety of arrangements with agents. These include

  • One agent that completes the returns for the partnership and also deals with the affairs of the individual partners
  • One agent that deals with the returns for the partnership and another separate agent that deals with the affairs of the individual partners
  • One agent that deals with the returns for the partnership and several different agents that deal with the individual partners

It is up to the partnership to determine who they want to represent them when speaking to HMRC and submit the appropriate written authority.

64-8/written authority held for each individual partner requesting TTP

Where we already hold 64-8s showing that the person contacting us has the authority to act for each individual partner we can discuss the TTP request with them without having to obtain any further authorisation.

64-8/written authority not held for each individual partner

If the person contacting us on behalf of the partnership does not have written authority or 64-8 on record to act for each individual partner they should be advised to submit a 64-8 if appropriate.

Where it is not appropriate (for instance where a partner already has an accountant and wants them to carry on being their agent, but wants us to discuss TTP with someone else) then the person acting on behalf of the partnership will have to submit a letter to the office responsible for the partnership address. This letter must contain

  • the representative’s name and company name (if appropriate)
  • the representative’s full postal address
  • the representative’s telephone number
  • the name and UTR of the partnership
  • the names and SA UTR of each individual partner included in the request
  • details of any other HMRC debt that the partnership has

The letter must also state that all of the partners are giving their authority for the representative to act on the partners’ behalf in respect of their SA liability and other HMRC debts (if appropriate). Each partner must sign the letter to confirm that that they have given their authority.

Upon receipt of the letter you must note the partnership SA record with the details of the authorised representative and the fact that they have authority to discuss TTP on behalf of the individual partners.

Do not amend the taxpayer’s agent details using function ‘amend taxpayer’s agent details’.