31 January and 31 July are big dates in any self employed person’s calendar. These are the dates that we are due to pay our tax. Our income tax is calculated from our Tax Return and split into two payments; January and July. However this year is different!
The COVID pandemic has resulted in massive handouts from the government and there’s been a lot of talk about the support available for self employed people. But here’s a little something that’s not been well publicised.
Delay your July 2020 SA Payment
You can delay making your July 2020 Self Assessment 2nd payment. As long as you make the payment by January 31st 2021, HMRC won’t charge any interest or impose any penalties. Yes, you read that correctly. A six month interest free loan.
You don’t need to apply or even inform HMRC. You just make the payment before 31 January 2021. A welcome breathing space when business has been squeezed.

You need to remember that by 31 January 2021, you will be due to make your first payment for the 19/20 Tax Year in addition to any outstanding balance from Tax Year 18/19.
You can still make your payment on time if you wish, or you could make several payments between now and 31 January or wait and clear the balance in one go. The choice is yours! And that’s not often the case when it comes to HMRC!
For more information, you can read about this support on the HMRC Self Assessment page and HMRC’s Press Release.