Making tax payments to HMRC

Posted 18/07/2019

For the various taxes you are pay to HMRC, there is an equal number of different ways to pay your tax. Some are more beneficial than others due to the time taken for the payment to go through, and some suit other people for the convenience and ease they bring.

It should be kept in mind that if payment is received one day after the due date, HMRC will still class this as a late payment. If the due date is on the weekend or a bank holiday the payment will need to reach HMRC by the last working day before the deadline. The time needed for a payment to be processed must be considered when finding the best way to pay tax. In each case, the tax reference – VAT number for VAT tax, self-assessment UTR followed by the letter K for self-assessment tax, or the company tax reference for corporation tax – must be included alongside the payment.The methods of payment are as follows:
• Transfer the money to HMRC directly from a business or personal bank account or by telephone banking. If any paper correspondence was received for the tax return – such as a reminder to submit a corporation tax return and pay the due tax – it will usually have the bank details and the account the payment should be made to. If these details have been lost, HMRC Cumbernauld’s office details should be used as the default.
• Pay online using a debit or corporate credit card; a fee for the corporate credit card transaction will be added to your tax bill. You are not able to pay with a personal credit card. This process will take you through the HMRC pages itself, filling out the relevant fields for the card details so that the payment can be made at the click of a button.
• In most cases HMRC have stopped sending out letters in the post with paying in slips; these are required if an individual wants to pay HMRC via their local bank or building society. If the individual does not have the paying in slip then another payment method will need to be chosen.
• HMRC accept cheques if they are sent in the post to them. This method should be used if the due date is at least a week away from the date the cheque is posted to allow for the postage, and HMRC can take up to 5 days of receiving the cheque to process the payment. This method only applies to self-assessment tax; posted payments will not be accepted for corporation or VAT tax. HMRC are open to talk and discuss payment plans if the tax cannot be paid in full by the deadline. The individual wanting to make this plan must take this up with HMRC before the deadline itself, and request time to pay to which HMRC may suggest a payment plan. Ignoring the deadline date and not paying the tax because of a lack of funds is not accepted as a reasonable excuse by HMRC.

Tags: HMRC, corporation tax, personal tax, VAT, payments