Nearly 100,000 self-employed chose to spread the costs of their tax bill

Since April 2021, almost 100,000 people have taken advantage of the government’s online payment plan in order to spread the cost of their tax return bill into monthly instalments.

Due to many self-employed professionals struggling financially during the pandemic, HMRC gave them extra time to pay their owed tax without facing penalties.

The deadline date remained on the 31^st of January, however, new rules meant that:

• Anyone who did not file their return by the 31^st of January deadline will not receive a late filing penalty if they file by the 28^th of February.
• Anyone who did not pay their tax liabilities by the 31^st of January deadline will not receive a late payment penalty if they pay their tax in full, or set up a time to pay arrangement, by the 1^st of April.
• From the 1^st of February, all outstanding amounts were subject to interest.

Once the 2020/21 self-assessment tax return has been filed, those wanting to spread out the costs are able to set up a Time to Pay arrangement for up to 12 months on debts up to £30,000.

According to HMRC data, since April 2021, taxpayers have used the service to pay more than £310 million worth of tax in instalments.

Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said, “We understand some customers might be worrying about paying their Self Assessment bill this year, and we want to support them.

“To see if you’re eligible to set up a payment plan, go to GOV.UK and search ‘pay my Self Assessment’.”

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