IHTM36340 - Letters of offer: date of payment

Payment will normally be due ‘within 30 days of the date of the letter notifying the acceptance of this offer by you’, since this should normally allow sufficient time for the funds to be made available. Any shorter period would be at the taxpayer’s suggestion and any longer period would normally follow a taxpayer’s request for time to pay (IHTM36240).

If, exceptionally, you need to enter a specific date for payment (for example, ‘on or before 1 January 2001’) that date should be far enough ahead for the offer to be made and accepted before payment is due. If the offer will have to be submitted to Tax Administration, Litigation and Advice (TALA) (IHTM36361) extra time should be allowed for the submission and if payment is due within a month of the submission, the case should be marked for urgent attention.

The terms of payment should be clear-cut, for example, ‘£…. to be paid within …. days of the date of the letter notifying the acceptance of this offer by you’. Reference to the date of receipt of the letter is not acceptable because that date cannot always be established.

There is separate guidance (IHTM36345) on how to specify dates of payments for instalment offers (IHTM36251).