The HMRC licence is valid for 18 months. As with bank feeds, users should be notified when a licence is approaching renewal or, at the very least, iFinance should prevent submission and display an appropriate error message. However, iFinance does not provide any alert or notification when the HMRC licence is due to expire. More concerningly, the system allows users to proceed with submitting a VAT return without displaying any warning or error message, even when the licence has already expired - resulting in a failed submission to HMRC. The failed submission only came to our attention after receiving a penalty notice from HMRC. The proposed resolution from iFinance is for their data team to delete the VAT return, after which we will now have to recreate and resubmit.
The absence of renewal alerts or error notifications for expired HMRC licences/ connection in iFinance represents a significant control and compliance gap. Users should not be able to proceed with VAT submissions without connecting to the HMRC, as this exposes the organisation to penalties and reputational risk. It is essential that iFinance implements proactive alerts (e.g., at 30, 14, and 7 days before expiry) and introduces validation checks that block submissions once a licence has expired. The proposed workaround—manual deletion and resubmission—is inefficient and does not address the underlying issue. A permanent system enhancement is strongly recommended.