Self assessment penalty

Locornwall

I received a £45 fine notification for missing the payment deadline for tax year 2020. As a PAYE earner it’s all a bit new and confusing for me. I originally thought they changed my tax code recently the past couple of months to reflect this, however realised last month and setup a payment plan early March. This is shown on my bank as a direct debit to HMRC. I received a message now saying I need to pay a fine as the payment is late. I was never prompted with this when I setup the plan, which if I’d know. I would have paid somehow. I appreciate some will just say it’s my fault, but please understand the bureaucracy involved with self assessment. Any advice?  

[Deleted User]

Presumably you had not settled your 2019/20 tax liability by the end of March and you have received a penalty of £45. In that case you would have owed £900. Is that the case? What does your online account currently show?

Locornwall

Yes I owed £900. Received an option to setup a payment plan, which I did but then several weeks later got the penalty notice.

[Deleted User]

Unfortunately the penalty notice does kick in on 31st March. I would be surprised if this wasn’t factored into the payment plan as I know that interest, which will also accrue, will be. 

unholyangel

Locornwall said:

Yes I owed £900. Received an option to setup a payment plan, which I did but then several weeks later got the penalty notice.

How did you set up the plan? Online or on the phone? 

Call them to query it. They had an announcement on gov.uk that if you had set up a payment plan by 1st April no penalty would be charged. 

But there is also budget plans - which are not the same thing. I won't get into specifics as not enough info to know whose mistake it is. HMRC should be able to tell you if it's wrong though