Is having spent tax money on bills a valid excuse for not paying tax on time?

Grumpy_chap

ColonelCabbage said:

So paying taxes to the state trumps everything else

Yes, it does.

ColonelCabbage

Grumpy_chap said:

ColonelCabbage said:

So paying taxes to the state trumps everything else

Yes, it does.

Amen. Let's burn a candle.

BoGoF

Clearly you are looking for people to agree with you but the reality is the vast majority do not get that choice to put other bills before tax having tax deducted via paye.

Maybe some late payment interest and surcharge may focus the mind for next year.

njkmr

ColonelCabbage said:

njkmr said:

"Sorry Mr Landlord i cant pay this month , im skint."
Why says Mr Landlord ?
"Because ive just had to pay my bills elsewhere and have nothing left for you."
Ive heard this a lot , and its no excuse whatsoever.
I cant see HMRC saying "oh dont worry poppit give it us when you are ready."
Being self employed takes a lot of planning and forward thinking and im sure is difficult but its the nature of the business. You should really have thought about it more in the good times im afraid and made sure enough was put aside in anticipation of the bill.

So paying taxes to the state trumps everything else, including paying basic bills or even keeping a roof over one's head and food on the table. Out of curiosity do you pay taxes to the state only or do you offer sacrifices to it as well?

I kind of pay all my " dues" to be honest. Its just the way i am. I have never defaulted on anything i owe . Guess its the way i was brought up. Its been hard at times but i dont have people knocking at my door...! Each to their own.

DeLaSole

Hi CC,

Going forwards, and when in a position, perhaps monthly payments to HMRC may help spread the future SA tax costs rather than it falling all in one go? May not be right for you but just a thought in case you didn't know that could be done.

Best wishes. 

MattMattMattUK

ColonelCabbage said:

@ MattMattMattUK will stick to COL. It's 0 for the current months because I can't get any job - job market in IT is horrendous right now. Getting virtually no response to my applications, I've never seen that since I started many years ago.

On that basis I would be looking at alternative employment, any income is better than nothing, even a minimum wage job would bring in around £1,600 after tax. Look at your transferable skills as well, project management can often work well if your previous IT experience includes deployment and rollouts.

InMyDreams

Is any of the money you need to pay, a ‘payment on account’ for this tax year?

norsefox

ColonelCabbage said:

njkmr said:

"Sorry Mr Landlord i cant pay this month , im skint."
Why says Mr Landlord ?
"Because ive just had to pay my bills elsewhere and have nothing left for you."
Ive heard this a lot , and its no excuse whatsoever.
I cant see HMRC saying "oh dont worry poppit give it us when you are ready."
Being self employed takes a lot of planning and forward thinking and im sure is difficult but its the nature of the business. You should really have thought about it more in the good times im afraid and made sure enough was put aside in anticipation of the bill.

So paying taxes to the state trumps everything else, including paying basic bills or even keeping a roof over one's head and food on the table. Out of curiosity do you pay taxes to the state only or do you offer sacrifices to it as well?

Well, yes.  Those paid through PAYE don't have the luxury of making that choice, and neither do they have the ability to defer tax payments up to 21 months after the income was taken.

The UK has just shy of a million job vacancies right now.  That's still above 2019/2020 before COVID.  I appreciate that IT jobs may be difficult right now (could the AI distraction/nonsense mean that companies are reviewing their IT/development spend at the moment?), but there are many other jobs available.

You'll no doubt have very transferrable skills which employers are looking for.  Even minimum wage on 40 hours per week will be approaching £24k as of April this year.

I totally understand the feeling of despair, but if you're willing/able to work, there are definitely many options out there to keep things ticking over as you search for a job in your preferred space.

MattMattMattUK

InMyDreams said:

Is any of the money you need to pay, a ‘payment on account’ for this tax year?

Good catch, in theory all tax for 2022/2023 should have already been paid from the balancing payments, the only thing really needing to be paid should be the first balancing payment for 23/24.

[Deleted User]

MattMattMattUK said:

InMyDreams said:

Is any of the money you need to pay, a ‘payment on account’ for this tax year?

Good catch, in theory all tax for 2022/2023 should have already been paid from the balancing payments, the only thing really needing to be paid should be the first balancing payment for 23/24.

I get the impression that the op had a decent year in 2022/23 but has had a poor year in 2023/24. It is quite possible that no payments on account were required for 2022/23 and he has, not only to settle 2022/23 in full, but also make payments on account for 2023/24, all on 31st January. 

Of course, if this is the case, he has the option to reduce POAs for 2023/24 to whatever is appropriate.