Simple assessments coming in

HMRC will soon begin issuing simple assessments for the 2016/17 tax year.

This new approach to collecting tax avoids the need to bring taxpayers within the self-assessment system. Simple assessments will, however, only be used where a taxpayer’s tax affairs are straightforward and HMRC already has all the relevant information.

The initial focus will be on taxpayers who have recently reached pension age or where tax underpayments cannot be collected using PAYE coding. You will normally have just 60 days in which to query a simple assessment, with the tax then payable on the normal date – 31 January 2018 for 2016/17.