To pay your Self Assessment tax bill online, sign in to your HMRC account and choose one of five methods: pay by bank account (open banking), manual bank transfer, debit or corporate credit card, Direct Debit, or the HMRC app. Whichever you pick, you’ll need your 11-character payment reference and the exact amount owed, and the payment must reach HMRC by 31 January for the balancing payment and by 31 July for the second payment on account.
What You Need Before You Start
Two things: your payment reference and the amount.
Your payment reference is your 10-digit Unique Taxpayer Reference followed by the letter K. That final K matters. Typing the UTR on its own is the single most common reason payments go astray.1GOV.UK. Pay Your Self Assessment Tax Bill – Make an Online or Telephone Bank Transfer You can find your UTR on previous tax returns, on letters from HMRC, or in your online tax account.2GOV.UK. Find Your UTR Number
For the amount, sign in to your HMRC online account and check the “Your balance” section, or use the figure from your submitted return. Pay HMRC’s calculated figure rather than your own estimate; even a small underpayment attracts interest.
The Deadlines You’re Paying Against
Self Assessment has two payment dates each year. For the 2024/25 tax year:
- 31 January 2026 — balancing payment for 2024/25, plus your first payment on account for 2025/26 if you owe one.
- 31 July 2026 — second payment on account for 2025/26.
Both deadlines fall at 11:59 pm.3GOV.UK. Self Assessment Tax Returns – Deadlines Some payment methods clear the same day; others take up to five working days, so the method you pick decides how close to the deadline you can safely leave it.
One thing to know about payments on account before you pay: if your previous year’s bill was £1,000 or more and less than 80% of your tax was collected at source, HMRC adds two advance payments toward next year’s bill, each half of the previous year’s total.4GOV.UK. SALF303 – Payment of Tax – Payments on Account5GOV.UK. Payments on Account That’s why the January bill often looks larger than expected.
The Online Payment Methods
Pay by Bank Account (Open Banking)
The quickest option for most people. Select “pay by bank account” on the payment screen, get redirected to your own online or mobile banking, and approve a payment to “HMRC Shipley.” Money typically arrives the same or next working day.6GOV.UK. Approve a Payment Through Your Online Bank Account
Manual Bank Transfer
If you’d rather set up the transfer yourself in your banking app, you have three choices. Faster Payments usually reach HMRC the same or next day, including weekends and bank holidays. CHAPS arrives the same working day if sent inside your bank’s processing window, though your bank may charge a fee. Bacs takes three working days. For all three you enter HMRC’s sort code, account number, and account name from the GOV.UK payment page, along with your 11-character payment reference.1GOV.UK. Pay Your Self Assessment Tax Bill – Make an Online or Telephone Bank Transfer
Debit Card or Corporate Credit Card
Debit cards attract no additional fee. Corporate credit cards work too, but carry a non-refundable processing fee. Personal credit cards have not been accepted since January 2018.7GOV.UK. Pay Your Self Assessment Tax Bill – Overview
Direct Debit
Set one up through your HMRC online account to make a single payment for each deadline. Allow five working days the first time, or three working days if you’ve used the same bank details before.8GOV.UK. Pay Your Self Assessment Tax Bill – Direct Debit Leaving it to the last day and choosing Direct Debit is how people miss the deadline without realising.
HMRC App
The official HMRC app lets you pay from your phone and set reminders for upcoming deadlines. Sign in with your HMRC online credentials the first time, then switch to a PIN, fingerprint, or facial recognition for later logins.9GOV.UK. Download the HMRC App
Walking Through the Payment
Sign in to HMRC online services, go to your Self Assessment account, and select the option to make a payment. Pick your method, then enter your 11-character payment reference and the amount.1GOV.UK. Pay Your Self Assessment Tax Bill – Make an Online or Telephone Bank Transfer A confirmation screen shows everything before you commit; check the reference and amount before you authorise.
Once you confirm, you’ll get a digital receipt or transaction reference. Save it. If the payment ever needs tracing, that receipt is what HMRC will ask for.
Confirming HMRC Received It
After paying, check “Your balance” in your HMRC online account. Electronic payments sent within the last seven days appear there. Once fully processed, they move to “View payments and credits.” The full processing cycle can take up to seven days.10GOV.UK. Pay Your Self Assessment Tax Bill – Check Your Payment Has Been Received
If nothing shows after seven days, check with your bank first that the money left your account. If it did, contact HMRC with your receipt, the amount, the date paid, and the method. HMRC’s internal tracing checks whether the payment landed against the wrong tax, the wrong period, or a suspense account.11HM Revenue & Customs. Payments – Tracing a Payment – Tracing a Payment in HMRC Payments (Action Guide)
If You Miss the Deadline or Can’t Pay in Full
Late payment triggers a stacking penalty. HMRC charges 5% of the unpaid tax at 30 days late, another 5% at 6 months, and another 5% at 12 months.12GOV.UK. Self Assessment Tax Returns – Penalties On a £5,000 bill left unpaid all year, that’s £750 in penalties on its own. Interest also runs on the outstanding amount, currently at 7.75% (the Bank of England base rate plus 4%), accruing daily from the original deadline.13GOV.UK. Rates and Allowances – HMRC Interest Rates for Late and Early Payments
If you owe less than £30,000 and can clear it within 12 months, you can set up a Time to Pay arrangement through your online account without phoning anyone. You need to have filed all outstanding returns and have no other overdue HMRC debts. Interest still accrues on the balance during the plan.14GOV.UK. How Much You’ll Pay
Owe more than £30,000, or need longer than 12 months? Contact HMRC directly to negotiate. There’s no fixed maximum length; the arrangement depends on what you owe and what you can afford monthly.14GOV.UK. How Much You’ll Pay Setting up Time to Pay before 31 January can head off the 5% late payment penalty, though interest still applies.