Research found 95% of accountants and financial advisers surveyed are seeing a rise in clients struggling to pay tax bills, with 59% of those surveyed stating they have seen an increase of struggling clients of between 10% and 14%, Premium Credit found.

Half of professionals surveyed said the biggest increase is in clients struggling to pay corporation tax, with 26% stating the biggest increase is in relation to VAT, and 24% pointing to income tax.

That is a switch from last year’s research which saw income tax as the biggest issue, cited by 70% of those questioned.

Jennie Hill, COO of specialist finance at Premium Credit said: ‘Accountants and financial advisers are facing a growing issue with clients struggling to pay tax bills, which is likely to have a knock-on effect on the financial strength of these businesses and ultimately whether they can survive.’

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