More than 20,000 people have used HMRC’s monthly payment plan to spread the cost of their self-assessment tax bill since April 2021, recent statistics show.

A total of £46 million has been paid under the Treasury’s time-to-pay scheme in this tax year so far.

The online service allows people who owe up to £30,000 in tax to manage their liabilities online and create a bespoke monthly payment plan, without the need to talk to HMRC.

Last year, around 123,000 customers used the service to pay their 2019/20 tax bill, totalling £460m.

Only five weeks remain now until the deadline for 2020/21 tax returns, at midnight on 31 January 2022.

Taxpayers can use ‘time to pay’ to arrange a payment plan if they:

• have filed their tax return for 2020/21
• owe less than £30,000 in income tax
• are within 60 days of the payment deadline
• plan to pay their debt within the next 12 months.

Myrtle Lloyd, director- general for customer services at HMRC, said:

“We understand some customers might be worrying about paying their self-assessment bill this year, and we want to support them.

“To see if you’re eligible to set up a payment plan, go to GOV.UK and search ‘pay my self- assessment’.”

Get in touch to talk about your self-assessment tax return.