Good news for our stress levels with the usual end of January tax filing deadline looming.

HMRC has announced that self assessment taxpayers will get an extra month to file their tax returns without incurring a fine.  The late filing penalty waiver is designed to give millions of people relief from the pressure of the filing deadline due to rising Covid cases with self isolation rules and sickness impacting on the ability to meet the 31 January deadline for the second year.

  • anyone who cannot file their return by the 31 January 2022 will not receive a late filing penalty if they file online by 28 February 2022
  • anyone who cannot pay their Self Assessment tax by the 31 January 2022 will not receive a late payment penalty if they pay their tax in full, or set up a Time to Pay arrangement, by 1 April, although interest will still be payable from the 1 February

The existing Time to Pay service allows any individual or business the option to spread their tax payments over time. Self Assessment taxpayers with up to £30,000 of tax debt can do this online once they have filed their return.

You can set up a Budget Payment Plan if you want to make regular monthly or weekly payments towards your next tax bill.

When you set up your Budget Payment Plan, you’ll choose how much you want to pay and how often.

You can pause payments for up to 6 months if you need to.

To use the Budget Payment Plan, you must be up to date with your previous Self Assessment payments.

You can make your own Time to Pay arrangement using your Government Gateway account, if you:

  • have filed your latest tax return
  • owe less than £30,000
  • are within 60 days of the payment deadline
  • plan to pay your debt off within the next 12 months or less

If you cannot make your own Time to Pay arrangement online you can call the Self Assessment helpline, if for example you owe more than £30,000 or need longer to pay.

The Self Assessment Payment Helpline Telephone number is 0300 200 3822 and the lines are open from Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm (excluding public holidays).

As always for further information and or information please get in touch