Self Assessment Confusion; Says 'No Tax to Pay'

Eye25

(This is a duplicate of a post on the wrong pensions forum)
So I did my 23/24 Self Assessment on 2nd January and my calculation shows I owe about £2k of tax for 23/24 and £1k on account for 24/25. Makes sense - EXCEPT my account balance says 'NO TAX TO PAY'.
I've spent hours online trying to figure this out, why can't it be clearer HMRC !?!
First I thought it would filter through and update within a few days, but it still says no Tax to Pay.
I've clicked on all the links online, going round in circles.
I found I needed to find my Self Assessment Statement, which apparently will be online somewhere, sent through the post, or maybe not sent at all ! if my return is near the due date or something.
I found an SA 302 Statement, which is the same as my SA calculation but only shows 'ESTIMATED payment due by 31/1/25', so that's not the final bill.
I want to pay the correct tax due.
So will this be updated eventually, does it wait until 31st January as the due date before it updates (at which point I will run into penalties), or will the tax due be separately added to my tax code so there is nothing to pay now ? 
And do I pay now based on the SA calculation, or wait until 31st January to review in the hope that by then it will show clearly what is due?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Can you share screenshots showing the NO TAX TO PAY message?

Did you 100% definitely submit your return? Plenty of people have completed them online in the past but not sent it (online) to HMRC.

If you did submit it there has been plenty of time for your account to be updated, that's usually 2-3 days maximum.

Eye25

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

Can you share screenshots showing the NO TAX TO PAY message?

Sorry probably not

Did you 100% definitely submit your return? Plenty of people have completed them online in the past but not sent it (online) to HMRC.

Yes 100% and confirmed on my account

If you did submit it there has been plenty of time for your account to be updated, that's usually 2-3 days maximum.

i would have thought so too

see my response above

sheramber

Have you received confirmation that your return has been submitted ?

Have you definitely pressed the Submit button?

eskbanker

sheramber said:

Have you received confirmation that your return has been submitted ?

Have you definitely pressed the Submit button?

OP already answered those questions above (albeit within the quoted text)!

Eye25

In the absence of any revelation on this, I think I'll just pay the amount due on my SA calculation next week (even though it says no tax is due) as this looks right to me.
Hopefully any overpayment can be corrected in the future.

I haven't really got the time to try and phone them, with all the reports of them not answering the phone either.

TheGreenFrog

I have in the past had similar problems - I have even received a cheque for a tax refund I was not due (tore it up and sent them a letter:  never heard a thing!).  Can result from having two different systems operating, each oblivious to the other - a PAYE system which assumes there is no self-assessment being completed, and a self assessment.  Your suggested solution is the one I adopt - at least they pay you interest for overpayments!

Eye25

TheGreenFrog said:

I have in the past had similar problems - I have even received a cheque for a tax refund I was not due (tore it up and sent them a letter:  never heard a thing!).  Can result from having two different systems operating, each oblivious to the other - a PAYE system which assumes there is no self-assessment being completed, and a self assessment.  Your suggested solution is the one I adopt - at least they pay you interest for overpayments!

Thanks yes but it's a very expensive option for me if it is incorrect

Its driving me mad

TheGreenFrog

If you don't want to phone (and I don't blame you I avoid at all costs), write them a letter.  They put you in a queue for response, which is (or was when I last did it a year ago) a few months.  If you don't get a response within the required timescale (which you can look-up online), then send a chasing letter.

Eye25

So I may have worked this out !
On my 'Tax Year Overview' page for 23-24 there is an entry for 'adjustments' which reduces my tax due down to £0, and when i click on that it says '£-- included in tax code for year ending 5/4/26'
So it looks like they'll recover it through tax code going forward, rather than me paying now.

Even though its inconsistent with my SA summary. 

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Eye25 said:

So I may have worked this out !
On my 'Tax Year Overview' page for 23-24 there is an entry for 'adjustments' which reduces my tax due down to £0, and when i click on that it says '£-- included in tax code for year ending 5/4/26'
So it looks like they'll recover it through tax code going forward, rather than me paying now.

Even though its inconsistent with my SA summary. 

Given you said you filed the return on 2 January. I don't know how that is possible 🤔.

But maybe don't look a gift horse in the mouth, just make sure it is in your tax code by April!