Pay your Simple Assessment tax bill

You must pay your Simple Assessment tax bill if you’ve been sent a letter by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

This guide is also available in Welsh (Cymraeg).

You may get a Simple Assessment letter if you:

  • owe Income Tax that cannot be automatically taken out of your income
  • owe HMRC £3,000 or more
  • have to pay tax on the State Pension

If you think any information in the letter is wrong or you cannot pay your bill on time, you must contact HMRC within 60 days.

You’ll need your 14-character payment reference number starting with ‘X’ when you pay. You’ll find it on your Simple Assessment letter.

Make an online payment

You can pay by:

  • approving a payment through your online bank account - you’ll be asked to sign in to your online bank account
  • debit or corporate credit card

There’s a fee if you pay by corporate credit card or corporate debit card. The fee is not refundable.

You cannot pay with a personal credit card.

If you choose to pay through your online bank account, you can either make an instant payment or select a date to pay. The date needs to be before your payment is due.

Check your account to make sure that the payment has gone out on the correct day. If the payment has not gone out as expected, speak to your bank.

You’ll be asked if you want to sign in to your Personal Tax Account when you use the online service.

Signing in lets you see and pay tax you owe, but you can still pay without signing in.

If you owe tax from before 6 April 2022 you cannot see and pay tax using your Personal Tax Account.

Pay now

Pay with the HMRC app

You can use the HMRC app to pay your bill through your bank’s app or using online banking.

Make a bank transfer

You can pay using online banking or telephone banking, Faster Payments, CHAPS or Bacs.

It usually takes up to 3 working days for your payment to reach HMRC. Check your bank’s transaction limits and processing times before making a payment.

If you’re paying from a UK account

Pay into this account:

  • sort code - 08 32 10
  • account number - 12001020
  • account name - HMRC Shipley

If you’re paying from an overseas account

To pay from an overseas bank account, use the following bank details for HMRC:

  • Bank Identifier Code (BIC) - BARCGB22
  • account number (IBAN) - GB03BARC20114783977692
  • account name - HMRC Shipley

Barclays Bank PLC
1 Churchill Place 
London 
United Kingdom 
E14 5HP

Send a cheque

You can pay by cheque through the post. Make the cheque payable to ‘HM Revenue and Customs only’ and send it to:

HMRC
Direct
BX5 5BD

Write your 14-character payment reference number starting with ‘X’ on the back of the cheque - you’ll find it on your Simple Assessment letter.

It usually takes 3 working days for your payment to reach HMRC.

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