Anyone who has difficulty paying their second 2019 to 2020 Self Assessment payment on account can take advantage of automatically deferring the payment until 31 January 2021, HMRC is reminding taxpayers.

The second Self Assessment payment on account for 2019 to 2020 is ordinarily due at the end of July, but the government previously announced it is supporting the self-employed and others by allowing them to defer this payment.

This option to defer is on top of additional support for the self-employed through £7.8 billion in grants paid through the Self Employment Income Support Scheme.

The payment on account deferral will give immediate support to businesses and individuals by keeping cash at their disposal during this extraordinary time of uncertainty.

To make this as hassle-free as possible customers will not need to contact HMRC to defer their payment on account – they opt into the deferral by simply not paying their tax bill due by 31 July 2020.

If no payment is received, HMRC will automatically update their systems to show payment has been deferred and no interest or penalties will be incurred, providing it is paid in full by 31 January 2021.

The only action customers may need to take is to cancel their direct debit if they have one set up for their payments on account.

A projected estimate based on 2019 to 2020 Self Assessment receipts suggests that the July payment deferral will provide up to a £11.8 billion cash flow boost to taxpayers. Around 2.7 million taxpayers are eligible for deferral.

Self Assessment taxpayers should think carefully about whether deferral is right for them.

It’s important to remember that the deferred amount will be due on 31 January 2021, the same date that any 2019 to 2020 balancing payment and first 2020 to 2021 payment on account will be due. This could mean 3 separate payments are due all at once.

They may wish to contact HMRC about paying these combined amounts in instalments if they have difficulty in paying them all in full at once.

For more information, click here.