How do I pay my…



One question we get asked a lot is “How do I pay my tax?”, well here is a handy guide on how, and where to pay various tax liabilities. 

HMRC do accept payments in many different ways, including bank transfer, through your government gateway, cheque and direct debit (in some cases!). It is also very important when paying your tax that you use the correct reference to avoid your payment being allocated somewhere else, and using “Tax” as the reference won’t help, this can be avoided by making payments through your government gateway account or paying by direct debit.

Self-Assessment

Pay your Self Assessment tax bill: Overview – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)   If you pay your self-assessment by bank transfer you should use your UTR with a “K” on the end as the reference (e.g. 1234567890K), and to avoid any late payment penalties this must be paid by 1 February each year.

Corporation Tax

Pay your Corporation Tax bill: Overview – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)   As with Self-Assessment, if you pay by bank transfer you should use the reference number that is specific to your company, if you are not sure what this is then just ask us. To avoid late payment penalties corporation tax should be paid by the end of the 9th month after the company’s year end, for example if the YE is 31 December, then payment should be received by HMRC by 1 October. 

VAT

Pay your VAT bill: Make an online or telephone bank transfer – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)   VAT is usually due to be received by HMRC one calendar month, and 7 days after the quarter end, for example, VAT quarter 31 March is due on 7th May, using your VAT number as reference. If you are unsure there is a payment date calculator available, or you can ask us. If you pay by direct debit this will leave your bank on or around the 10th of the month.

PAYE

Pay employers’ PAYE: Overview – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)   You can pay your PAYE by bank transfer as above, but the best way for this is to set up a variable direct debit with HMRC (again through your government gateway log in) , then the correct amount is collected from your account, based on the submission made, at the right time each month.