Question

Samson plc is registered for VAT.

The following information relates to the company’s VAT return for the quarter ended 31 March 2020:

1. Sales invoices totalling £330,000 were issued to VAT registered customers, of which £240,000 were for standard-rated sales and £90,000 were for zero-rated sales.

1. Samson plc offers its standard-rated customers a 5% discount for prompt payment. This discount was taken by 1/3 of the customers.

1. Purchase invoices totalling £154,000 were received from VAT registered suppliers, of which £136,000 were for standard-rated purchases and £18,000 for zero-rated purchases.

1. Standard-rated expenses amounted to £28,000. This includes £3,900 for entertaining UK customers.

1. On 15 March 2020, the company wrote off irrecoverable receivables of £4,000 and £1,680 in respect of invoices that were due for payment on 10 August 2019 and 5 November 2019 respectively.

1. On 11 January 2020, Samson plc purchased machinery for £24,000 and sold office fittings for £8,000. Input VAT had been claimed when the office fittings were originally purchased.

2. On 1 March 2020, Samson plc purchased a motor car costing £28,400 for the use of its finance director. The finance director is provided with free petrol for private mileage, and the cost of this is included in the standard-rated expenses in note (iv). The relevant quarterly scale charge is £432. Both figures are inclusive of VAT.

Unless stated otherwise, all of the figures above are exclusive of VAT.

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO:

1. Calculate the VAT payable by Samson plc for the quarter ended 31 March 2020 and state the payment due date.

(16 marks)

1. Samson plc is experiencing cash-flow difficulties. The company submitted its VAT return and paid the VAT due for the quarter ended 31 December 2019 on 15 March 2020.

State the consequences if Samson plc does not submit the return for the quarter ended 31 March 2020 until 25 May 2020.

(maximum word count 80 words)