HMRC VAT Backlog & repayment delays

[ArabianNights]

Hi all, I just want to know if anyone else is going through this issue. Submitted VAT return for June as normal, and my repayment due was due today. I have been calling them over the last week or so to confirm that I will get paid today, as per the online HMRC account. They all keep saying is there it is ‘processing’, that’s it. Low and behold, no payment. Today is the 30th and I have major cash flow issues in that I need to export products from abroad to the UK and my export license in that country is about to expire and I need the funds to renew it by the end of this month. Without this, I cannot export the products and there are other domino effects affecting my whole business.

HMRC are not making any investigations, haven’t sent me any letters, haven’t requested any info, neither have the approved the payment that was due today and neither have they disapproved it. This is going to cause me a lot of domino effect problems. We are relatively new in terms of our VAT registration and this is our 3-4 months doing return (monthly)

Is anyone else suffering this? What’s going on? Thanks

 

[Newchodge]

Hi all, I just want to know if anyone else is going through this issue. Submitted VAT return for June as normal, and my repayment due was due today. I have been calling them over the last week or so to confirm that I will get paid today, as per the online HMRC account. They all keep saying is there it is ‘processing’, that’s it. Low and behold, no payment. Today is the 30th and I have major cash flow issues in that I need to export products from abroad to the UK and my export license in that country is about to expire and I need the funds to renew it by the end of this month. Without this, I cannot export the products and there are other domino effects affecting my whole business.

HMRC are not making any investigations, haven’t sent me any letters, haven’t requested any info, neither have the approved the payment that was due today and neither have they disapproved it. This is going to cause me a lot of domino effect problems. We are relatively new in terms of our VAT registration and this is our 3-4 months doing return (monthly)

Is anyone else suffering this? What’s going on? Thanks

Today is the 24th not the 30th.

 

[WaveJumper]

Well as above has pointed out its the 24th. but have you logged into your account to see if you have any notifications etc. did you actually get a notification that your last submissions went through ok.

And just having another thought whilst typing maybe a stupid question but are you 100% sure your due a refund

 

[ArabianNights]

Today is the 24th not the 30th.

??? I meant the 24th August - thanks

Well as above has pointed out its the 24th. but have you logged into your account to see if you have any notifications etc. did you actually get a notification that your last submissions went through ok.

And just having another thought whilst typing maybe a stupid question but are you 100% sure your due a refund

Thanks for replying. I meant the 24th - not 30th. Typo I seem to not be able to edit. The repayment was meant to be by today - 24th August. Yes, I have logged into my HMRC account online several times and it just says processing and yes, I am due a repayment. This confirmed also by the many advisors I have spoken to on the phone with HMRC, who just apologise for the delay and nothing else. My return it seems, hasn’t even been looked at. The repayment has neither been approved or denied, and there is no pending investigation, no letters or any other form of communication has been sent to me asking for more information. I’m just wondering if anyone else is going through this, since HMRC are telling me it’s a ‘backlog’ I don’t know what’s going on with my repayment and it’s causing a lot of cash flow issues for the business.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

??? I meant the 24th August - thanks

Thanks for replying. I meant the 24th - not 30th. Typo I seem to not be able to edit. The repayment was meant to be by today - 24th August. Yes, I have logged into my HMRC account online several times and it just says processing and yes, I am due a repayment. This confirmed also by the many advisors I have spoken to on the phone with HMRC, who just apologise for the delay and nothing else. My return it seems, hasn’t even been looked at. The repayment has neither been approved or denied, and there is no pending investigation, no letters or any other form of communication has been sent to me asking for more information. I’m just wondering if anyone else is going through this, since HMRC are telling me it’s a ‘backlog’ I don’t know what’s going on with my repayment and it’s causing a lot of cash flow issues for the business.

I am seeing horrendous delays with Corporation tax refunds for clients, but not heard anyone having VAT refunds delayed.

HMRC do usually issue VAT refunds within 30 days of receiving a VAT return. It does sound odd.

I would call again and keep chasing it.

 

[Lisa Thomas]

They have over 6 months delay for issuing VAT refund on insolvency cases...

 

[pentel]

within 30 days of receiving a VAT return

When did you submit your return?

 

[ArabianNights]

I am seeing horrendous delays with Corporation tax refunds for clients, but not heard anyone having VAT refunds delayed.

HMRC do usually issue VAT refunds within 30 days of receiving a VAT return. It does sound odd.

I would call again and keep chasing it.

Thanks for this. Yes. I have been calling them daily for the last 5 days or so, only to be told the same thing. Just my bad luck. Today when I called them, they said that it’s 30 working days and not 30 calendar days ??‍ So they now saying technically I have another 7 days left to wait. It’s not even a very large amount of money.

 

[ArabianNights]

When did you submit your return?

 

[WaveJumper]

If anyone fancies some bed time reading on the topic of refunds

VAT repayments

VAT repayments - work out if you're due a VAT repayment using your VAT Return

www.gov.uk

 

[ArabianNights]

The return was received by HMRC on the 25th July. The online account has been saying estimated repayment date of 24th august, since previous repayments haven’t been late, I assumed that this would be OK. Now I have just logged in this evening, and when checking progress, the status is “repayment has been delayed”

 

[ArabianNights]

If anyone fancies some bed time reading on the topic of refunds

VAT repayments

VAT repayments - work out if you're due a VAT repayment using your VAT Return

www.gov.uk

Thank you

 

[ArabianNights]

If anyone fancies some bed time reading on the topic of refunds

VAT repayments

VAT repayments - work out if you're due a VAT repayment using your VAT Return

www.gov.uk

This doesn’t confirm whether the 30 days is working days or calendar days. When I spoke to HMRC on the phone today, they said it’s working days, however there is nothing written online that confirms this.

 

[Bridget1213]

same situation.
I’ve dropped you a message

 

[nuttySlak]

same situation.
I’ve dropped you a message

Hello Bridget,

I know it was quite a while that you had this issue but I need to ask, did it ever get resolved as I am going through the same problems now.

Thanks

 

[nuttySlak]

Hi all, I just want to know if anyone else is going through this issue. Submitted VAT return for June as normal, and my repayment due was due today. I have been calling them over the last week or so to confirm that I will get paid today, as per the online HMRC account. They all keep saying is there it is ‘processing’, that’s it. Low and behold, no payment. Today is the 30th and I have major cash flow issues in that I need to export products from abroad to the UK and my export license in that country is about to expire and I need the funds to renew it by the end of this month. Without this, I cannot export the products and there are other domino effects affecting my whole business.

HMRC are not making any investigations, haven’t sent me any letters, haven’t requested any info, neither have the approved the payment that was due today and neither have they disapproved it. This is going to cause me a lot of domino effect problems. We are relatively new in terms of our VAT registration and this is our 3-4 months doing return (monthly)

Is anyone else suffering this? What’s going on? Thanks

Hello,

I know it was quite a while that you had this issue but I need to ask, did it ever get resolved as I am going through the same problems now.

Thanks

 

[Raj28]

Hello,

I know it was quite a while that you had this issue but I need to ask, did it ever get resolved as I am going through the same problems now.

Thanks

Hi,

I went through the same thing. VAT returns are submitted monthly for me, and my business is about 95% exports, so all my returns end up being refunds.

I submitted my VAT return in March 2025 — 30 days passed, and nothing happened. I submitted the April 2025 return, and again, 30 days passed with no response. I started calling every three days and kept being told that it was with the repayment team. This continued until the end of June 2025, when I received a letter saying that HMRC wanted to carry out a compliance check. The letter requested documents and gave a submission deadline of just two days — the compliance agent had sent it out late.

Unfortunately, I was due to go on a family holiday the day after the letter arrived. I called the compliance officer to request an extension, only to be told, “Cancel your holiday. I need this information now, as my manager will ask why I haven’t completed this next week.” After some back and forth, I managed to get an extension. All the requested information was submitted the day I returned, in the second week of July 2025.

After that, there was no response for two months. I had passed the matter on to my accountants to follow up, but they weren’t having any luck either.

In the third week of August, I received another letter — this time from a different compliance officer — requesting alldocuments relating to the business for the March and April 2025 VAT returns. This amounted to over 10,000 documents (it’s a B2C business). I supplied the information, though by this point I was frustrated and nearly out of cash to pay suppliers. I called the agent, and after a two-hour call, he confirmed he was happy with everything and that payment would be released.

The compliance check finally ended in the last week of August 2025.

I then submitted my August 2025 VAT return at the end of September. Ten days passed with no repayment. I didn’t think much of it at first, assuming there was a backlog, so I submitted my September 2025 return as soon as possible to avoid further delays. It’s now been two weeks, and no repayment has been processed.

I called the helpline and was told that the returns are “sitting in the system” and that nothing is happening. When I asked about response times — since last time it took three months for any communication — I was told, “We don’t have timeframes for response times,” followed by a laugh.

At this point, the only thing to do is wait and twiddle your thumbs until they decide to get in touch…