Freelancing Support
Glossary

Payment on Account:

/ˈpeɪmənt ɒn əˈkaʊnt/ noun Paying your income tax in advance, as is mostly commonly required by the self-employed.

Anyone in the UK who pays less than 80% of their income tax at source, and their tax bill is over £1,000, will be required to make payments on account.

Payment on Account is a way of paying your taxes in advance, twice a year, and if you’re self-employed, it’s likely you’ll be required to do so.

Rather than basing your tax bill upon how much you’ve charged this year, Payment on Account is estimated upon your previous year’s tax bill.

In your first year of trading, it’s likely you’ll be required to pay tax for the first year plus 50% of your estimated tax bill for the following year too.

Related Glossary Terms

Income Tax

Tax due payable to anyone earning over a certain income in the UK, and the primary tax you'll pay when you're self-employed

Self Assessment

The process of calculating and reporting your income and expenses to HRMC each year, rather than being taxed at source.

HMRC

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is the tax authority of the U.K. government.

Featured Resources

More from the Ecosystem

Payments on Account
Official guidance from HMRC
gov.uk
What is payment on account? (Podcast)
A podcast episode from Loud and Clear Accounting, explaining the concept.
Loud and Clear
What is payment on account?
A comprehensive guide from TaxScouts
TaxScouts
Paying yourself as a sole trader - how much tax to put aside?
A useful guide from Crunch with some handy illustrations and suggestions of how much to put aside.
Crunch
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Freelancing Support is the impartial and independent guide to independent work. We help freelancers find support, navigate self-employment and work well.