If you cannot pay your Self Assessment Tax Bill on Time

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Home / If you cannot pay your Self Assessment Tax Bill on Time

Updated on : 10-Dec-2024 06:48 PM GMT | 4 min read

What to do if you are unable to pay your self assessment tax bill on time?

If you are unable to pay your tax bill on time, the first step you must take is to contact HMRC as soon as possible. You can also pay your tax bill by setting up a payment plan. In order to set up a payment plan, you need a government gateway user ID along with a password. In case you are not having user ID, you can create an ID for yourself while setting up a payment plan.

In such cases, Contacting HMRC early proves to be a beneficial step as it helps in avoiding penalty as well as late interest payment.

In case you are unable to pay tax bill before the deadline, call business payment support service. This service is not only for businesses, any individual can use this service.

Business Payment Support Service

Monday to Friday – 8 AM to 8 PM

Saturday & Sunday – 8 AM to 4 PM

Telephone number - 03002003835

Nominated partners in a business partnership firm can negotiate in time with HMRC for tax bill payment on behalf of partnership firm or individual partners.

In case you missed your tax bill payment date

If you missed your payment date and received a tax bill or a letter of threatening from HMRC, call HMRC office as early as possible.

In case you have not received a bill or a letter about payment till now, call business support service.

If you missed Self Assessment Tax Payment Date

If you missed your payment date, kindly call self-assessment helpline

Self Assessment Payment Helpline

Monday to Friday – 8 AM to 8 PM

Saturday & Sunday – 8 AM to 4 PM

Telephone number - 03002003822

Things to know before contacting HMRC for Self Assessment Tax Bill

Before contacting HMRC, there are certain things which are important for you to know and may be asked by HMRC –

Your UTR number or VAT reference number
Bank account details
The tax bill amount you are finding it difficult to pay along with the reason.
What efforts you have done in order to get money and to pay the bill.
How much money you can pay right now and how much time you want to pay the remaining tax amount.

What happens when you contact HMRC for Self Assessment Tax Bill Payment?

When you contact HMRC, they will obtain some important details from you about –

Your income & expenditure
Your assets such as savings & investments
What you are doing to get your payments back on track

HMRC is the ultimate authority to decide that whether you have to pay your tax immediately or in installments or more time provided to you in order to get your payments back on track. You may need to face more in depth questions from HMRC in case they give you more time to pay your tax dues. In complex cases, HMRC may ask you for evidence in order to arrive at a decision.

Pay Your Self Assessment Tax Bill

After making call to HMRC, if HMRC thinks that you can pay, you need to pay the Self Assessment Tax Bill immediately. You can pay your tax by direct debit, credit or debit card over the phone. In case you pay by credit card, a non-refundable fee will be charged to your account.

In case you tell HMRC that you cannot pay your full tax in one go, you will be given an option by HMRC to –

Pay your bill in installments by direct debit
Pay your bill by taking extra time

You will not be able to avail the option of paying tax from your personal credit card as this service is already stopped by HMRC on 13th January 2018.

When more time given by HMRC to pay tax

It is possible that HMRC may provide you extra time to pay tax if they genuinely feel that you can’t pay your full tax now but will be able to pay the same in future.

Setting of plan is very necessary if you are paying HMRC in installments. Do conversation with HMRC and make them agree on the dates to pay your tax in installments by direct debit. You can also convince HMRC that it might be possible that if your circumstances change, you will pay and recover your tax installments faster than you are paying now. You also need to pay interest on the tax amount you are paying late to HMRC.

You have to do these tax payments continuously to HMRC without fail. If you are unable to do payments continuously on agreed dates to HMRC, HMRC generally cancel the arrangement and can even take legal action against you straight away.

When you will not get more time to pay

In case HMRC thinks that giving extra time to you cannot get your payments on track, they will not make any arrangement with you and tell you to pay your tax bill immediately. In case you will not pay, HMRC will collect money from you with the help of “Enforcement action”.