HMRC has said that if you are a self-assessment taxpayer, you won't be charged a 5% late payment penalty if you pay any tax in full or set up a payment plan by the 1st of April 2021 ...
In addition, a late payment penalty is charged on any unpaid amounts of tax outstanding on the 3rd of March, however, this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, HMRC is giving self-assessment taxpayers additional time to pay or set up a payment plan.
HMRC has said it recognises that people are under a lot of pressure with their finances right now and encourages those people worried about paying their tax, who may also be unable to set up a payment plan, to contact them for help and support on 0300 200 3822 by speaking to an advisor.
So far this year, 97,262 people have used the self-service Time to Pay facility, which totals more than £367m in tax. Payment on Account can also be reduced if taxpayers know their 2020/21 tax bill is going to be lower due to loss of earnings because of the pandemic.
There are a lot of HMRC phishing scams going about at the moment. I've had a couple arrive in my inbox recently and on my phone by text too. If you are at all worried about these, visit search Google for 'self-assessment' and only go to web pages from gov.uk/hmrc.
And don't forget to file your tax return by the 28th of February so you don't get a £100 late filing penalty.
If you feel inspired to find out more about anything I've said here, do call me on 01908 774320 or leave a comment below and I'll be in touch as soon as I can.