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Payments on account calculator: what do I pay on 31 January 2027?

How do payments on account work?

Each payment on account is half of last year's Self Assessment bill (income tax and Class 4), due on 31 January and 31 July. On 31 January 2027 you pay the rest of your 2025-26 bill plus the first payment towards 2026-27. None are due if last year's bill was under £1,000 or more than 80% of your tax was taken off at source.

In a first year of self-employment, 31 January asks for the whole year's bill and half of it again. A £7,131.80 bill with nothing paid in advance becomes £10,697.70 on 31 January 2027, then £3,565.90 more on 31 July.

Type the figure from your 2025-26 return or HMRC online account. The calculator shows both dates, the rule that applies, and what a reduction would mean.

Use the calculator All free tools

Built by Muhammad Shahzeb Anwar, MSc Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Rules from GOV.UK's payments on account and Self Assessment deadline pages; interest rate from HMRC's published rates.

The calculator

Work out your payments

Runs in your browser. Nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere.

Your 2025-26 tax year (the return due 31 January 2027)

After tax already taken off through PAYE. Leave out student loan, Class 2 and Capital Gains Tax.
PAYE on a job or pension, from your P60.
31 January 2026 plus 31 July 2026. 0 if this is your first year.

Optional what-if: reduce the 2026-27 payments

    The rule

    If you owe tax through Self Assessment, HMRC normally asks for two advance payments towards the next year's bill. Each is half of the income tax and Class 4 National Insurance you owed through Self Assessment for the year before. They are due by 31 January and 31 July. When the year's return is in, you pay any difference by the following 31 January (the balancing payment), together with the first payment on account for the year after.

    You do not make payments on account if last year's Self Assessment bill was under £1,000, or if more than 80% of your tax was already taken off at source, through your tax code for example. Student loan repayments, Class 2 and Capital Gains Tax are not part of them; they are paid with the balancing payment.

    Worked example: the first year

    Alex went self-employed in 2025-26 with £40,000 profit in England. The 2025-26 bill is £5,486 income tax (20% of £27,430) plus £1,645.80 Class 4 (6% of £27,430) = £7,131.80. Alex made no payments on account for 2025-26.

    DateWhatAmount
    31 January 20272025-26 balancing payment £7,131.80 + first 2026-27 payment £3,565.90£10,697.70
    31 July 2027Second 2026-27 payment on account£3,565.90
    31 January 20282026-27 balance (nil if profit stays the same) + first 2027-28 payment£3,565.90

    Saving from December 2026, that is £5,348.85 a month for two months, then £594.32 a month from February 2027.

    Reducing payments on account

    If you expect a lower bill, the rules let you ask HMRC to reduce your payments on account, online or with form SA303. If the bill turns out higher, HMRC charges interest on the shortfall from each due date. HMRC's late payment interest was 7.75% a year from 9 January 2026 (Bank Rate plus 4%). Example: payments of £4,000 reduced to £2,000 each, when the year's bill turns out at £4,531.80, leave £265.90 too little on each payment; interest to 31 January 2028 comes to about £31.

    Dates for 2026 to 2028

    DateWhat is due
    31 January 20272025-26 online return; 2025-26 balancing payment; first 2026-27 payment on account
    31 July 2027Second 2026-27 payment on account
    5 October 2027Register for Self Assessment if 2026-27 is your first year
    31 January 20282026-27 return; 2026-27 balancing payment; first 2027-28 payment on account

    The Budget of 28 October 2026 plans more regular, automated in-year payments for people who make payments on account, from April 2029. Until then the two-date system above applies.

    Before you rely on this

    What this will not tell you

    This applies the payments on account rule to a bill you already know. It does not work out the bill itself (the paid planner does, including Scottish rates), and it ignores penalties, interest on late balancing payments, and the coding-out of tax through PAYE. Nothing you type leaves your browser.

    Questions

    Questions people actually ask

    How much is a payment on account?

    Half of last year's income tax and Class 4 National Insurance owed through Self Assessment, after tax already taken off at source. Two are due, on 31 January and 31 July.

    Why is my first Self Assessment bill so high?

    Because 31 January asks for the whole of the first year's bill plus the first payment on account for the next year, half of it again: 150% in one payment.

    Do I have to make payments on account?

    Not if last year's Self Assessment bill was under £1,000, or if more than 80% of your tax was taken off at source, such as through PAYE.

    Do payments on account include student loan repayments?

    No. Student loan, Class 2 National Insurance and Capital Gains Tax are paid with the balancing payment, not through payments on account.

    Can I reduce my payments on account?

    Yes, if you expect a lower bill: online through your HMRC account or with form SA303. If the bill turns out higher, HMRC charges interest on the shortfall.

    What happens if I paid too much on account?

    If your payments on account were more than the final bill, HMRC sets the difference against what you owe or repays it.

    Where every rule comes from

    Sources

    Checked against the text of the law on 2 November 2026. Laws and notified rates change; if a source below has moved on, the source wins over this page.

    1. GOV.UK: Payments on account: https://www.gov.uk/understand-self-assessment-bill/payments-on-account
    2. GOV.UK: Self Assessment tax return deadlines: https://www.gov.uk/self-assessment-tax-returns/deadlines
    3. GOV.UK: Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances: https://www.gov.uk/income-tax-rates
    4. GOV.UK: Self-employed National Insurance rates: https://www.gov.uk/self-employed-national-insurance-rates
    5. GOV.UK: HMRC interest rates for late and early payments: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-hmrc-interest-rates-for-late-and-early-payments/rates-and-allowances-hmrc-interest-rates
    6. GOV.UK: Budget 2026 Overview of Tax Legislation and Rates (paragraph 2.31): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/budget-2026-overview-of-tax-legislation-and-rates-ootlar/budget-2026-overview-of-tax-legislation-and-rates-ootlar
    Citation

    Cite this tool

    Free to use and free to quote. If a figure here is useful in something you are writing, a link back is all that is asked.

    Muhammad Shahzeb Anwar, MSc Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Payments on Account Calculator. Shahzeb Speaks. https://www.shahzebspeaks.com/payments-on-account-calculator/

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    Don't know the bill yet?

    The Self Assessment + Payments on Account Planner estimates the 2025-26 and 2026-27 bill first (UK or Scottish bands, the £100,000 taper, Class 4, the landlord finance-cost reduction), then lays out 31 January 2027, 31 July 2027 and 31 January 2028 with a month-by-month saving plan. Excel and Google Sheets, an offline web version and a short guide.

    Get the full planner, $9