Simple Assessment

What’s a Simple Assessment?

Simple Assessment (PA302) is a way to pay any Income Tax that you owe that HMRC wasn’t able to take straight out of your income. You’ll only receive a Simple Assessment tax calculation if you’re not registered for Self Assessment and the best part is, you don’t have to do anything – HMRC will contact you!

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If you receive a Simple Assessment and you’ve previously filed a Self Assessment, you no longer need to sort and submit a Self Assessment – woohoo, 11 wonderful words.

HMRC will send you a letter with your Simple Assessment tax calculation and let you know how much you tax you owe. You know, the usual HMRC stuff.

If you’re not sure why you owe more tax, it’s best to get in touch with HMRC. Usually, it’s tax you owed from a previous year or on your State Pension or that you owe £3,000 or more.

What’s on the Simple Assessment letter?

Your letter will contain all the information HMRC has regarding your income. It’s your job to let them know if they’re missing something so read it all and read it carefully. The information regarding your income includes:

• Pensions (state and/or private)
• Income from pay
• Saving interest
• Employee benefits
• State benefits
• Income Tax you’ve paid
• How much tax you owe

You need to check that everything on the letter is correct and if so, you can go ahead and pay it. If not, you have 60 days to query it by phone or online. It may seem like a long time, but it’ll fly by so the sooner, the better!

OK, when do I need to pay by?

Good question! What’s a tax bill without a deadline?😂

You need to pay your Simple Assessment tax bill by:

• The 31st of January for any tax you owe from the previous tax year
• Within 3 months of the date of issue if you received your letter after 31st October

Don’t forget, the tax year runs from the 6th April to the 5th April. Download our calendar deadline reminders now and never miss a tax bill again.

How do I pay my Simple Assessment tax bill?

Thankfully, you can pay your tax bill easily through HMRC by signing into your account. What account, you ask? Your personal tax account, of course! You can log into your personal tax account which lets you:

• Pay your tax bill fully or partly using your online bank account, personal debit card, or corporate credit card
• See what payments you’ve already made
• Check when future payments are due
• Check how much you have left to pay
• See any changes made to your Simple Assessment calculation
• Get in touch with HMRC if you have a problem or question

You can only use this service 👆 if your tax bill is tax that you owe from April 2020-2021 or April 2021-2022. If your bill is from before then, you have to use one of the following ways to pay:

• By cheque
• By online or telephone banking
• Through your online bank account
• By using your debit card or corporate credit card online

All you’ll need is your Charge Reference Number when you go to pay. Don’t panic, you can find it in the letter that HMRC sent to you. Click here to pay.

Be aware, you cannot use a personal credit card to pay your Simple Assessment tax bill. When you pay with a corporate debit or credit card, there is a non-refundable fee you have to pay. There’s no fee if you pay with your personal debit card.

In some cases you’ll receive a P800 instead of a Simple Assessment. It just depends on your case. If you need more information, head to the HMRC website.