A few weeks ago, I posted about ‘payment on account‘. Just an update on this. Tom Railton has alerted me to The Telegraph’s reporting that “A million self-employed will be taxed on money they never earned. [£]”
This is certainly true of anyone who had a particularly disappointing year. They will, of course, get a balancing payment next January if they over-pay, but by then, cash-flow related damage may have been done.
But, most importantly, many people are not aware that they can actually request a reduction in this payment. If you think that your 2021-2 tax year is going to be a poorer one than expected, you may wish to have a look at this page, and particularly at the section that tells you how to request a lower payment this time.