The past weeks have seen a number of announcements to assist businesses and individuals during these turbulent economic times.
A full list of their measures, can be found here
As a firm of tax advisors, we thought it appropriate to comment on two of the measures that we would normally advise;
Income Tax
The payment on account, which would have been due in July 2020 will not now be required to be paid. Whilst the reports state that this will be payable in January 2021, that is the normal deadline for all tax liabilities arising from the 2019/20 tax year. The benefit of course being that interest will not be charged. This measure applies to ALL individuals who are due to make a payment on account in July 2020, you do not have to be registered as self-employed. This measure applies automatically with no need to apply for it. Of course, should you wish to make your 2nd payment on account as normal, you may do so.
Time to Pay
It has also been announced that businesses, including self employed individuals, can apply for time to pay on any impending tax liabilities. However, this is scheme generally open to everyone facing financial hardship. If, you would like HMRC to consider extending the payment deadline for your liabilities please contact 0300 200 3822. If you feel your difficulty in settling a liability is due to the Covid-19 outbreak please contact 0800 015 9559. Generally, interest will continue to accrue on unpaid liabilities (aside from the payment on account measure set out above).