Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) self-employed people, (b) freelancers and (c) sole-directors of small limited companies have deferred their tax payments from July 2020 in response to the covid-19 outbreak; and what assessment he has made of the ability of those people who have so deferred their tax payments to begin making repayments in January 2021.

1.5 million Self Assessment taxpayers took advantage of the opportunity to defer their July 2020 payment on account. It is not possible to specify how many of these were (a) self-employed people, (b) freelancers and (c) sole directors of small limited companies.

The Chancellor and HMRC understand that many Self-Assessment taxpayers who deferred their July 2020 Payment on Account may have difficulty in paying their Self-Assessment payments becoming due on 31 January 2021.

HMRC have enhanced their automated online Time to Pay service, enabling taxpayers to clear their January 2021 Self-Assessment liabilities in up to 12 monthly instalments, without the taxpayer needing to contact HMRC directly to set up their payment plan.