The time will shortly be upon us when the second payment on account for Self-Assessment tax falls due, 31 July 2020.
However, as part of the government’s financial support packages HMRC has given the option to defer this payment until 31 January 2021 as long as you are:
- registered in the UK for Self-Assessment and
- finding it difficult to make your second payment on account by 31 July 2020 due to the impact of coronavirus
Further good news comes from the fact that HMRC have stated that they will not charge interest or penalties on the deferred payment.
The making of the payment is still being encouraged where you are able to do so and you will still need to file your tax return in the normal way.
Should you decide that you qualify to take advantage of this deferral it is important to remember that the tax will then fall due on 31 January 2021 along with both any balancing payment for the tax year to 5 April 2020 and the first payment on account for the current tax year to 5 April 2021.