A few days left to pay self-assessment bills

Self-Assessment taxpayers have until 1 April 2022 to pay their tax bill for 2020-21 or set up a payment plan to avoid incurring a penalty.

A payment plan, if agreed with HMRC, will allow a taxpayer to spread the cost of their bill into manageable monthly instalments.

The online Time to Pay service is available for businesses and individuals who have filed their Self-Assessment tax return and owe up to £30,000. They can set up a payment plan online at GOV.UK without speaking to HMRC.

If taxpayers owe more than £30,000, or need longer to pay, they can call the Self-Assessment payment helpline on 0300 200 3822.

The Self-Assessment deadline was 31 January but, this year, HMRC gave customers extra time to file and pay their 2020-21 tax return and not face penalties.

More than 11.3 million customers filed by 28 February, with one million of those taking advantage of the extra time by filing their tax return in February.

Customers can make secure Self-Assessment payments through the HMRC app by either connecting to their bank to make their payments or paying by Direct Debit, personal debit card or corporate/commercial credit/debit card.

A full list of the payment methods customers can use to pay their Self-Assessment tax bill is available on GOV.UK.

HMRC has urged everyone to be alert if they are contacted unexpectedly by someone asking for money or personal information. Taxpayers should always type in the full online address www.gov.uk/hmrc to get the correct link for filing their Self-Assessment return online securely and free of charge. HMRC sees high numbers of fraudsters emailing, calling or texting people claiming to be from the department. If customers are in doubt, do not reply directly to anything suspicious, but contact HMRC straight away and search GOV.UK for ‘HMRC scams’.

Further information:

Interest has been applied to all outstanding balances owing to HMRC since 1 February.

A 5% late payment penalty will be charged if tax remains outstanding, and a payment plan has not been set up, by midnight on 1 April 2022. Further late payment penalties will be charged at the usual 6 and 12-month points (August 2022 and February 2023 respectively) on tax outstanding where a payment plan has not been set up.