Some 500,000 taxpayers will not receive reminders to pay their second instalment of tax under Self Assessment in time for the 31 July 2011 deadline.
HMRC says "Sorry" and admits that it has run out of paper. Blaming its "forecasting arrangements... the volumes on this occasion have risen out of all proportion to previous patterns."
This is slightly curious, because one might think that having sent out reminders for the first payment on account in January 2011 HMRC would know exact numbers for the second payment.
What to do now?
- If your Unique Taxpayer Reference (your ten digit reference number) ends with digits from 70 to 99 then you may be affected.
- HMRC will send your statement as soon as possible.
- If you receive your statement in August, you should still pay the tax due as soon as you can.
- You'll only be asked to pay interest on the tax due on the second payment on account if you still haven't paid it more than 30 days after you receive your statement.
- Taxpayers can go online to view their statements instead.
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