Nothing to pay? Double check

DebH

When I completed my SA on line it said there was 80 pence to pay. So I waited for some confirmation to arrive but none did. I went back in to check today and it said nothing to pay but underneath that that £0.80 would be due on 31/1 I rang to check and apparently (chap I spoke to couldn't believe this either) they say nothing to pay but then add interest on unpaid tax - once it reaches £2 they will email/write to you asking for payment. Needless to say I have just paid my 80 pence - I have no problem paying what's due but the site isn't clear so thought I would warn anyone else.

Savvy_Sue

I had a feeling - which the experts will confirm or deny - that HMRC didn't collect tax if it was under a certain amount.

suso

Basically at the moment, anyone that receives a SA bill if it is under £32.00 there is a standard phrase, "the amount to pay is small, you can chose not to pay it and it will be added to the next bill, but interest may be charged" (my SA bill has not been this small in years so I can't confirm the exact wording)

The chap you spoke to was correct, interest is always running on amounts, but if the interest is under £2.00 it never gets charged to the account.

eg currently the interest rate on late payments is 3%
£32.00 @ 3% APR means interest of £0.96 - the interest is not charged after a year the original £32.00 is added to next years bill.

For £0.80 the interest over a year is £0.02, it might become an issue in about 80 years, (if the interest rates stay the same,) if they increase to 10%, it will take 25 years to incur any extra charges.

Mikeyorks

Savvy_Sue wrote:

I had a feeling - which the experts will confirm or deny - that HMRC didn't collect tax if it was under a certain amount

Used to be the case with legacy systems - but not SA. If there's a liability under £5 then it's simply allowed to run after a first Statement.

£32 and under there's a legend on the Statement to the effect :

‘The amount to pay is small. If you do not wish to pay this now it will be added to your next statement but you may be charged interest if you pay late.

In both cases interest does get added.