Self Assessment taxpayers will not be charged the 5% late payment penalty if their tax is paid, or a late payment plan is set up by 1 April 2021.

The payment deadline for Self Assessment remained as 31 January, with interest charged from 1 February on any amounts outstanding. The current rate of late payment interest is 2.6%.

A 5% late payment penalty is usually charged on any unpaid tax that is still outstanding on 3 March. This year however, taxpayers were given more time to pay or set up a payment plan.

Payment plans or payments in full must be in place by midnight on 1 April 2021 to avoid a late payment penalty.

The online Time to Pay facility enables the cost of the Self Assessment tax bill to be spread into monthly instalments until January 2022. Find out more about setting up a payment plan here.

Self Assessment timeline

1 February: Interest accrues on any outstanding tax bills.

28 February: Last date to file any late tax returns to avoid a late filing penalty.

1 April: Last date to pay any outstanding tax or make a Time to Pay arrangement, to avoid a late payment penalty.

1 April: Last date to set up a self-serve Time to Pay arrangement online.