VAT payment deadline calculator
See when each VAT return and payment is due, when HMRC takes a Direct Debit, and when a weekend or bank holiday means paying earlier.
General information, not tax advice. Check your deadlines in your HMRC online account.
How the dates are worked out
Quarterly and monthly returns. The return and the payment are both due one calendar month and seven days after the end of the VAT period. A quarter ending 31 March is due by 7 May; a quarter ending 30 June by 7 August.
Paying on a weekend or bank holiday. If the deadline falls on a weekend or bank holiday, the payment must reach HMRC by the last working day before it, unless you pay by Faster Payments, which usually arrive the same or next day. Bacs payments usually take three working days, so allow for them.
Direct Debit. HMRC collects the payment three working days after the deadline. Set the Direct Debit up at least three working days before you submit the return.
Annual Accounting Scheme. You make advance payments towards the year's bill: nine monthly payments at the end of months 4 to 12 (each 10% of the previous year's VAT), or three quarterly payments at the end of months 4, 7 and 10 (each 25%). The return and the balancing payment are due two months after the end of the accounting year.
Payments on account. Businesses that owe more than £2.3 million a year and file quarterly make interim payments instead, at the end of the second and third months of each quarter. This tool does not cover them; HMRC writes to you with the amounts.
Related: VAT and cash flow, Corporation tax deadline, PAYE payment dates
Never be surprised by a VAT bill.
Cadence estimates each quarter's VAT from your invoices and bills and puts it in your forecast in the week it is due.