How the fuck do I pay my tax bill?

[GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat]

Every year I go around in circles!!

Where is it?

Please help! I am logged in and it’s like a magic trick with no end 🤦🏻‍♀️

And also filing early still wouldn’t solve the issue that they don’t deduct your payments already made from the amount due. I don’t understand why they can’t do that?

But as I said above, it takes a few days for them to do the calc that takes the payments on account into account. So I always file by Jan 20th (also a procrastinator) to allow them a week to do this and a couple of days to sort my shit out in terms of payment.

ALSO when I first filed it was showing interest due on last July's payment on account - the one self-employed people were allowed to make late - which then disappeared after they'd worked out the calculation a few days later.

I paid mine before Christmas but what I don't like is that there is no option to pay them online using a debit/credit card.

So I have to either write a cheque, or do a bank transfer using my UTR as a reference and hope that HMRC can match the payment to my account. It's worked so far, but it's not a great system.

I went self employed in 2008 (I think) and at the time there was still a local tax office in my town. I rang to make an appointment and has all my queries answered there and then and have been filing my self assessment for a small sole trader business without additional help. I heard that this service was suspended a few years after. Shame really as the tax advisor had a few hundred customers and I am sure that getting off to a good start avoided lots of problems later. Now I have to ring and the help line is staffed by all sorts of folk, some more competent than others.

I paid using my debit card online?

Just shows you how complicated this whole thing is unnecessarily so.

And also filing early still wouldn’t solve the issue that they don’t deduct your payments already made from the amount due. I don’t understand why they can’t do that?

I think this is down to liveware error as they really do show you that, there's a full history on your account when you log into the gateway and it shows you how much to pay.

Seriously, have a proper look, they haven't made a special webpage just for you that doesnt show it

@RaspberryCoulis

I paid mine before Christmas but what I don't like is that there is no option to pay them online using a debit/credit card.

So I have to either write a cheque, or do a bank transfer using my UTR as a reference and hope that HMRC can match the payment to my account. It's worked so far, but it's not a great system.

Making an online banking payment with your reference number is surely the best way to make any kind of payment. How is that not a great system?

Provided you haven't changed your bank you just click on the previous payee that you know works and keep using it

I think it couldn't really be easier.

I’m going to say very smugly don’t wait until the 30th January! I did mine on the 28th! 😇

OP I feel your pain, it’s a nightmare. I got locked out and it wouldn’t let me back in, the laptop nearly went through the window.

One year I forgot to click Submit and got a fine. I didn’t even earn anything that year and they made me do one anyway. They let me off eventually. I hate this time of year!!

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@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat

I paid using my debit card online?

Just shows you how complicated this whole thing is unnecessarily so.

I think it depends on what sort of tax you're paying - self-employed, PAYE, how much you owe, limited company.... it's really complex.

And yes there might be a "pay this bill by debit card" button but I certainly couldn't find it!

Crazy how some people leave it to the last day to sort it all out

I agree partially @CoronaIsWatching - but I was particularly virtuous and did my tax return and submitted in in July. Didn't actually make the payment until the beginning of January, because the money's better in my account than HMRC's.

I was coming on to ask exactly this but as I did my self assessment a year ago the how to pay option is now there (it wasn't a few days ago).
Am really annoyed by having to pay half the next year 'on account'. This tax year has been a complete disaster for my business. I will likely get this back next year, right?

I think it’s one of those things every year people say they’ll do it early but only a minority manage it.

@Snakebyte

Started mine yesterday, took most of the day finding bits and bobs, calculation made at end automatically and not too hard to find where to pay. Calculation did not seem right though and within minutes of submitting I twigged what was wrong. I'd forgotten to enter some tax already paid. Could find no way to change my return at that point so instead of paying the calculated amount, I paid what I believe is the correct amount. It will all get sorted in the wash. Will probably call them next week to let them know. However not sure how easy it will be to talk to someone who can check my case. On the personal-account portal I didn't see anywhere to post a message.

If you had already submitted the return before spotting the error, @Snakebyte , you will need to do an amended return.

Technically I started this thread yesterday so wasn’t quite leaving it to the last day...

@tara66

In France they have local tax offices where you can go with any problem to sort out your tax affairs. There is more help to the tax payer with these offices. I wrote a letter to HMRC last February and still haven't had any reply - I just had a note saying ''..another colleague would answer me soon...'' that was a while ago, I have also asked on the HMRC forum and HMRC answer these themselves - again no actual ''answer'' to what I was asking. There is only one enquiries phone number for the whole country for Self Assessment which takes 30 mins to answer and then one gets passed around. I think being able to go and see an actual tax officer about a problem should be introduced.

Well done Gordon Brown for closing down all the local tax offices, making the experienced local staff redundant and then employing huge numbers of call centre workers in a few office blocks. What a good idea that was!

@Frazzled2207

I was coming on to ask exactly this but as I did my self assessment a year ago the how to pay option is now there (it wasn't a few days ago). Am really annoyed by having to pay half the next year 'on account'. This tax year has been a complete disaster for my business. I will likely get this back next year, right?

You don't have to at all. You can tick the box to reduce the payments on account, down as far as to zero if you don't think you'll have a liability. It's all within your own control.

@Ch3rish

And also filing early still wouldn’t solve the issue that they don’t deduct your payments already made from the amount due. I don’t understand why they can’t do that?

I think this is down to liveware error as they really do show you that, there's a full history on your account when you log into the gateway and it shows you how much to pay.

Seriously, have a proper look, they haven't made a special webpage just for you that doesnt show it

Because HMRC have two completely separate systems/departments.

You have the tax side of things which calculates the tax liability for the year.

Then you have the collection side of things who actually deal with the payments, debt collection, refunds, etc.

Never the twain shall meet. That's as true in real life as it is on the internet. Two different systems. The tax return side of things usually takes a day or two to populate through to the money/collection side of things.

That's how HMRC (and it's predecessor HM Inspector of Taxes) were set up decades ago, i.e. different buildings etc., and that's carried on into the internet age.

Frazzled - You fill in HMRC's form SA303 to reduce your payment on account - putting in whatever figure you think it would not be more than.

@YeOldeTrout

How much would an accountant charge -- I imagine £1000 minimum.

DH hates me paying anything in advance, or I would have paid the bill the moment I worked out the amount (October). I kept many copies of the instructions and still had to hunt around with great stress to figure out find the right links and exact instructions, in early January.

What???????????????

How about you knock of a O. £100 is more likely for a simple personal tax return, we do some for even less where the client provides all the info required in a quick/easy format.

It's all about how organised the client is. Those that dump a carrier bag or box of screwed up invoices, missing bank statements, dividend tax vouchers for the wrong year, etc., obviously pay more. Those with decent records, proper/complete lists of payments/income, no missing paperwork, etc., are rewarded in the form of lower fees.

Obvious really, the more time we have to spend because the client can't be arsed to do the simplest of organisation/administration, then the charges are higher, as we charge on the basis of time spent sorting out their stuff, before we can move on to preparing the return itself.

@CoronaIsWatching

Crazy how some people leave it to the last day to sort it all out

I know, it's bizarre.

DP did his tax return in April, because he was hoping it would help him get the SEISS grants, which it didn't.

In any case he paid his tax bill at Christmas like he always does, it's an easy and useful thing to do between Christmas and New year. This year he'll be doing his return in April again because he's been on CIS all this year, so they will probably owe him money

It is a massive pain. They have extended the deadline for receiving a fine this year until the end of next month. But you would still be charged interest for any tax due.

And if you want to apply for a mortgage the lender will expect you to have done your tax return by October and be able to provide your tax calculation and overview at that point

Accountant is about £300 if you collate all your receipts yourself, it is a lot more if you do absolutely nothing yourself.

It is easy to pay if you leave it a few days for the payments to update. You then just click on PAY and it is all there, you just choose how to pay.

I read somewhere that they have allowed a few weeks grace this year.

I am a last minute person too, but I always set a reminder to complete it by a week before which gives the totals time to update.

I charge about £150 for a basic tax return, more for something more complicated (e.g. lots of supplementary pages), or where the accounts aren't complete. You don't necessarily need an accountant - lots of bookkeepers are registered as agents for self-assessment with HMRC (myself included).