If you are one of the nine million taxpayers who completes a self-assessment form, don’t forget that you may have to make a ‘payment on account’ by 31 July, says Emma Simon in The Daily Telegraph.
Miss the deadline and you will be liable for a 5% surcharge on any tax due and interest will start being added to your bill at a rate of 2.5% a year. Worse, “in certain cases HMRC reserves the right to levy a £60 a day penalty on the bill”.
This payment on account arises because anyone who filed a self-assessment form in January was not just detailing their earnings for the April 2007/2008 tax year and paying any remaining tax owing. You would also have made your first forward payment for 2008/2009 based on last year’s earnings (50% is due in January and a further 50% in July).
If you genuinely can’t pay the latest bill, HMRC may allow you to defer payments (tel: 0845-366 1204). And if you’ve got less work this year, and therefore expect to pay less tax, you can request an SA303 form to reduce the payment on account.