Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of supporting self-employed workers who have had their income affected by the covid-19 pandemic in paying their tax returns for 2019-20.

The Government has taken unprecedented steps to support the self-employed during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme receiving claims from about 2.7 million individuals so far, totalling over £18.9 billion as of 31 December.

The Government recognises that the pandemic may have affected the ability of self-employed individuals to meet their tax obligations. As announced in the Winter Economy Plan, the Government has given the self-employed and other taxpayers more time to pay taxes due in January 2021, building on the self-assessment deferral provided in July 2020.

Taxpayers with up to £30,000 of Self-Assessment liabilities due will be able to use HMRC’s self-service Time to Pay facility to secure a plan to pay over an additional 12 months. This means that Self-Assessment liabilities due in July 2020 will not need to be paid in full until January 2022.

If taxpayers or their agents are struggling to obtain the required information in time for their Self-Assessment return to be submitted by the filing date, they can provide provisional figures on their return and then provide HMRC with the actual figures as soon as they can. They must state that provisional figures are being provided by ticking the appropriate data item box on the return.