We recently shared that we had been advised by HMRC’s OTT unit that they were working to a ‘target’ of 120 working days to process OTT notifications. Following this we were advised by HMRC staff that the delay was 6 months.
We have today been informed that HMRC hopes to improve this situation by the end of the financial year (31 March 2022). In the meantime they say they are prioritising cases where evidence of commercial need is provided with the option to tax application.
Please bear this in mind and if there is likely to be a commercial need to evidence that an option to tax has been notified. We continue to recommend that the option is notified by email as this will result in a receipt of that email, which may be accepted as evidence by a party who requires this. However, if other evidence is available to show a sale or rental is imminent and that formal acknowledgement is required to complete the transaction this should also be forwarded to HMRC.
Constable VAT would be happy to assist in any cases of difficulty or urgency.