Payment deadline looming for self assessment taxpayers

29 Mar 2021

Self assessment taxpayers must pay any outstanding tax liabilities in full or set up an online payment plan for the 2019/20 financial year by 1 April to avoid incurring penalty charges, HMRC has stated.

Normally a 5% late payment penalty is also charged on any unpaid tax that is still outstanding on 3 March. But this year, because of the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, HMRC is giving taxpayers more time to pay or set up a payment plan.

Taxpayers can pay their tax bill or set up a monthly payment plan online and are required to do this by midnight on 1 April to prevent being charged a late payment penalty. The online Time to Pay facility allows taxpayers to spread the cost of their self assessment tax bill into monthly instalments until January 2022.

Almost 117,000 taxpayers have set up a self-serve Time to Pay arrangement online, totalling more than £437 million. Find out more about setting up a Time to Pay arrangement here.

Jim Harra, HMRC's Chief Executive, said: 'Anyone worried about paying their tax can set up a payment plan to spread the cost into monthly instalments. Support is available at GOV.UK to help anyone struggling to meet their obligations.'

If you require further guidance on self assessment please contact us.