Tax returns for 2021/22 must be filed online by midnight on 31 January 2023. The same deadline applies for paying any tax due under self-assessment for 2021/22 and, where relevant, the first payment on account of your 2022/23 tax liability. The payment can be made in various ways. Interest is charged where tax is paid late, and penalties may also apply.

Key dates

Any outstanding tax owing for 2021/22, together with the first payment on account for 2022/23, must be paid by 31 January 2023, unless the underpayment is being collected through your tax code or you have agreed a time-to-pay agreement with HMRC.

Checking what you owe

Before making the payment, it is important to check what you owe. Remember, the tax calculation produced by HMRC shows the total amount due by 31 January 2023 – it does not take account of any payments on account that may have been made on 31 January 2021 and 31 July 2021, or any other payments that you have made. To ensure that you pay the correct amount, you should view your personal tax account first. This will show not only what tax you owe, but also what payments have already been made.

Payment options

There are various ways in which you can pay the tax that you owe. The options include:

• direct debit;
• online banking
• debit card;
• at a bank or building society; or
• by cheque.

If you also pay tax under PAYE and you filed your tax return online by midnight on 30 December 2022 or filed a paper return by 31 October 2022, you may be able to have the tax that you owe collected through your 2023/24 tax code if you owe £3,000 or less.

You can also set up a Budget Plan to make regular payments towards your tax bill.

Direct debit

If you want to pay your self-assessment tax bill via direct debit, you can set up a direct debit through your HMRC online account. However, you can only set up a direct debit for a single payment – it is not possible to set up a recurring direct debit. You will need to set up one for the tax that you owe for 31 January 2023 and a separate one for the July payment on account. If you paid by direct debit last year, the tax that you owe this year will not be collected automatically – you will need to set up a new direct debit for this year’s bill.

The reference number is your 10-digit Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), followed by the letter ‘K’. You will be able to find your UTR on your personal tax account or on your payslip from HMRC.

If you are paying by direct debit for the first time, you should allow five working days for it to be processed. Where you have previously paid by direct debit, you should allow three working days.

Online banking

Payments can be made by online banking. The payment reference is your UTR followed by the letter ‘K’. HMRC’s bank details are as follows.

Your bill will tell you which account to use. If you do not have a bill and are unsure which to use, payments should be made to HMRC Cumbernauld.

Where payments are made by faster payments they will usually reach HMRC on the same or following day.

Paying via your personal tax account or the HMRC app

You can also make your payment through your personal tax account or the HMRC app. Your will need to select the ‘pay by bank account’ option. This will direct you to sign in to your online or mobile bank account to approve the payment.

The payment is usually instant, but may take up to two hours to show on your account.

At a bank or building society

Payments can be made at a bank or building society using by cash or cheque if you have the paying-in slip sent to you by HMRC. Cheques should be made payable to HMRC and you should write your UTR followed by the letter ‘K’ on the back of the cheque.

Where payment is made in a bank or a building society from Monday to Friday, HMRC will treat the payment date as the date that you made the payment rather than the date on which it reaches their account.

Cheque

Although not advisable, payment can also be made by sending a cheque through the post. The cheque should be sent to:

HMRC

Direct

BX5 5BD

The cheque should be made payable to HMRC and you should write your UTR followed by the letter ‘K’ on the back of the cheque. You should allow three working days for your payment to reach HMRC.

Chaps and Bacs

Payment can also be made by Chaps and Bacs. Chaps payments usually reach HMRC on the same day, whereas Bacs payment usually take three working days.

Please call if you need help with any of the issues raised in this alert.