Self Assessment deferral

Self Assessment customers are able to benefit from enhanced payment plans customers and can now apply online for additional support to help spread their tax bill into monthly payments.

The online payment plan service can already be used to set up instalment arrangements for paying tax liabilities up to £10,000. From 1 October 2020, HMRC has increased the threshold to £30,000 for Self Assessment customers following the Chancellor’s announcement on 24 September 2020.

As part of that speech, the Chancellor announced that Self Assessment customers could pay their deferred payment on account bill from July 2020, any outstanding tax owed for 2019/20 and their first payment on account for 2020/21 in monthly instalments, up to 12 months, via this self-serve tool. Customers who need longer than 12 months to settle their tax liabilities are invited to contact HMRC in the usual way.

Customers who wish to set up their own self-serve Time to Pay arrangements must meet the following requirements:

• they have no outstanding tax returns, other tax debts or other HMRC payment plans set up;
• the debt needs to be between £32 and £30,000; and
• the payment plan needs to be set up no later than 60 days after the due date of a debt.

Customers using self-serve Time to Pay will be required to pay any interest on any outstanding balance from 1 February 2021.