Almost 100,000 Self Assessment taxpayers paid £121 million using the HMRC app between April and September 2023, according to the latest figures from the tax authority.
The stats show that 97,365 taxpayers used the app to settle their tax bill for the 2022 to 2023 tax year – more than three times the £34.6 million paid by 36,467 taxpayers during the same period last year.
Taxpayers have been able to pay their tax bill via HMRC’s app since February 2022, and in addition to making payments the app is a simple way for Self Assessment taxpayers to access personal details, including their Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), National Insurance number and any PAYE information they may need to complete their tax return.
Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said: “We all have busy lives, so it makes sense that more and more customers are choosing to access their personal tax information and pay their tax bill through the HMRC app. It gives them the flexibility and convenience they need – as well as peace of mind that their Self Assessment is sorted. Go to GOV.UK and search ‘HMRC app’ to find out more.”
HMRC said that taxpayers can set up notifications to remind them when payments are due, so they don’t need to worry about missing deadlines or incurring penalties. “To set up their reminder they should select the ‘Self Assessment’ section in the app, where the option to ‘set a reminder’ is available. This will give payment date deadline options to select reminders for,” it advises .
HMRC app data also showed that:
• January 2023 was the busiest month for app payments with 56,738 taxpayers paying £125,819,051 in tax.
• July 2023 was the second busiest month, with 29,774 taxpayers using the app to pay £54 million.
App users will need a user ID and password to access their personal information which they can set up while using the app, HMRC said, adding that there is a YouTube video demonstrating how to make a payment.
