Self Assessment Payment to HMRC: Bank Details, Reference and Timing Explained
By Marina Jahan · Reviewed by Shamayun Chowdhury, CIMA · Tax year 2026/27 · Last reviewed [September 2026]
Paying HMRC looks like the easy part of Self Assessment. In practice it’s where a surprising number of careful people slip up: a transfer sent too late in the day, a reference missing its final letter, or a January bill that turns out to include a chunk of next year’s tax as well.
Below you’ll find HMRC’s account details, the reference it needs, how quickly each payment method gets there, and how to handle payments on account. Get those right and the money lands on time and in the right place.
Quick answer
For a Self Assessment payment to HMRC, transfer the money to HMRC Cumbernauld, sort code 08 32 10, account number 12001039, or pay by personal debit card on GOV.UK, Direct Debit, or by approving the payment in your bank. The reference is always your 10-digit UTR followed by K, eleven characters in all. Near the 31 January deadline, a Faster Payment or a card is the safest way to pay.
Where the money goes: HMRC’s accounts and your reference
A bank transfer only works if two details are spot on: the account you send it to and the reference attached to it.
HMRC’s two Self Assessment accounts
Both accounts sit with Barclays and accept Self Assessment payments.
| Name on the account | Sort code | Account number | From abroad (BIC / IBAN) |
|---|---|---|---|
| HMRC Cumbernauld | 08 32 10 | 12001039 | BARCGB22 / GB62 BARC 2011 4770 2976 90 |
| HMRC Shipley | 08 32 10 | 12001020 | BARCGB22 / GB03 BARC 2011 4783 9776 92 |
Your statement names the account to use. Without a statement, or if you can’t tell, either one will do. Money sent from a bank outside the UK can take longer, so ask your bank how long to allow.
Your bank may show a Confirmation of Payee warning saying the name isn’t an exact match. Before you carry on, compare the sort code and account number with GOV.UK itself. Bank details that reach you in an email or text you weren’t expecting should never be trusted.
Your payment reference
HMRC matches money to taxpayers using an 11-character reference made up of your 10-digit Unique Taxpayer Reference and the letter K, for example 1234567890K.
Send the payment with a faulty reference and it may take longer to reach your tax record, even though it has left your bank. People most often drop the K, put spaces in odd places, or quote a company UTR when paying their personal tax. Not sure of the UTR itself? Our UTR guide shows where HMRC prints it.
If the reference was wrong
Resist the urge to pay a second time. Get in touch with HMRC with the date, amount and reference you used, and ask for the money to be moved to the right record. Hold on to your bank’s payment confirmation until it’s sorted.
How to make payment to HMRC for Self Assessment
Whichever way you make a payment to HMRC, Self Assessment rules on timing still apply: the money has to reach HMRC by the deadline. The main difference between methods is how long they take.
| Payment route | Typical arrival | Charge | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Faster Payment from online or phone banking | Same day or next, weekends and bank holidays included | None | Almost everyone |
| Approving the payment in your banking app | Normally straight away | None | Paying from the HMRC app or your HMRC account |
| Personal debit card on GOV.UK | Treated as paid on the day you pay | None | The deadline itself |
| Business credit or debit card on GOV.UK | Treated as paid on the day you pay | A fee HMRC won’t refund | Paying with a company card |
| CHAPS | Same working day if your bank’s cut-off is met | Possible bank charge | Larger sums |
| Bacs | Three working days | None | Payments sent well in advance |
| Direct Debit already in place | Three working days | None | People who pay HMRC regularly |
| Brand-new Direct Debit | Five working days | None | Planned payments |
| Your PAYE tax code | Spread across the next tax year | None | Small bills for those who qualify |
| Cheque, or a paying-in slip at your bank | Several working days | None | Paper payers |
Nothing stops you splitting a bill into several payments. Plenty of people send part in December and the rest in January.
Picking the right method
A Faster Payment is the natural default: free, fast and available at weekends. On the deadline itself, paying with your own debit card through GOV.UK carries the least risk, because HMRC dates card payments by the moment you pay rather than the arrival of the money. Bacs and Direct Debit work well when you plan ahead, but they’re the routes most likely to turn a last-minute payment into a late one.
Collecting it through your tax code
Employees and pensioners can sometimes have a small Self Assessment bill collected through their tax code instead of paying it in one go. The long-standing conditions are a bill under £3,000, tax already paid through PAYE, and a return filed on time: by 31 October on paper or 30 December online. HMRC then takes the tax from your pay or pension through the following tax year. Confirm the current rules on GOV.UK before you count on it.
Cards, banking apps, Direct Debit and paper
Card payments
Card payments are made through GOV.UK’s Self Assessment payment page, and the rules depend on the card:
- Personal debit cards: free to use
- Business credit and debit cards: accepted, with a fee added that HMRC doesn’t refund
- Personal credit cards: refused, as they have been since January 2018
Since card payments are dated to the moment you pay, weekends and bank holidays included, cards are a reliable last resort. Enter the billing address exactly as your bank holds it; a mismatch is one of the commonest reasons a card payment is declined.
Paying through your bank’s app
Begin in the HMRC app, or in your online HMRC account, and choose to pay by bank account. You’ll be passed to your own bank to approve it, with the amount and reference already completed, so there’s nothing to mistype. The money normally moves at once, though HMRC’s record can take a little while to catch up.
Direct Debit
You arrange a Direct Debit from inside your HMRC online account, either as a one-off for a bill you already know about or as regular collections under a Budget Payment Plan. A new instruction needs five working days and an existing one three. A one-off Direct Debit won’t automatically roll over to the next bill.
Cheques and bank counters
Paper is still possible: post a cheque, or take a paying-in slip from your HMRC account to your bank or building society. Both take longer than electronic routes and leave you less sure of the arrival date, so build in extra time. Post Office counters no longer take Self Assessment payments.
Timing your payment so it isn’t late
HMRC judges a payment by when cleared funds reach its account, not when they leave yours. So the last safe day to pay depends entirely on the method.
Take the next big date. The 2025/26 balancing payment and the first 2026/27 payment on account are both due on 31 January 2027, a Sunday.
| Method | Pay no later than (for 31 January 2027) | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Faster Payment | Sunday 31 January | Arrives same or next day, even at weekends |
| Card, personal or business | Sunday 31 January | Counted on the day you pay |
| Bank approval in the HMRC app | Sunday 31 January | Normally instant |
| CHAPS | Friday 29 January | Only processed on working days |
| Bacs | Tuesday 26 January | Takes three working days |
| Direct Debit already set up | Tuesday 26 January | Takes three working days |
| New Direct Debit | Friday 22 January | Takes five working days |
| Cheque or bank counter | Mid-January | Postal and processing delays |
Weekend and bank holiday deadlines
When a due date falls on a non-working day, the money must reach HMRC by the last working day beforehand, except for Faster Payments and card payments, which HMRC accepts at weekends. That’s why the slower routes above carry earlier dates.
A simple habit
Treat the deadline as a backstop, not a target. Pay a week ahead by your usual method, and keep card and Faster Payment in reserve for emergencies. Every filing and payment date is listed on our MTD deadlines page.
Confirming the payment has arrived
Search for “HMRC how to see payments Self Assessment” and you’ll find the answer comes in two stages, as payments move through HMRC’s system.
- Recent payments. Anything paid electronically within the past week appears under “Your balance” in your HMRC online account.
- Processed payments. After HMRC has dealt with a payment, it shows under “View payments and credits”, which can take as long as a week after you paid.
Still nothing after a week? Ask your bank to confirm the money went out and that nothing was mistyped, then pass the payment details to HMRC. Keep the bank’s confirmation until the payment appears on your record.
Payments on account explained
A January bill that’s larger than the tax on your return usually has one cause: it includes a payment on account, which is money paid up front towards the following year’s tax.
Who makes them, and how they’re worked out
Payments on account apply unless your previous Self Assessment bill was under £1,000, or over 80% of your tax had already been deducted at source, through PAYE for instance. Each instalment equals 50% of last year’s Income Tax and Class 4 National Insurance bill, and they’re due on these dates:
- 31 January, part-way through the tax year
- 31 July, a few months after the tax year closes
Whatever’s left over is paid as a balancing payment on the next 31 January.
Illustrative example
Tom, a decorator, owes £6,000 for 2025/26. His payment on 31 January 2027 is that £6,000 plus a £3,000 first payment on account for 2026/27, so £9,000 in total. Another £3,000 is due on 31 July 2027. If his 2026/27 tax ends up at £7,000, he pays the remaining £1,000 on 31 January 2028. Tom and his figures are made up to illustrate the cycle.
Why the second January stings
New Self Assessment taxpayers make no payments on account in their first year, as HMRC has no earlier bill to work from. The following January catches many out, because it brings the whole first year’s tax and the first advance payment for the year after. For someone newly self-employed that can mean finding about eighteen months’ worth of tax at once, which is why setting money aside from day one matters.
HMRC Self Assessment claim to reduce payments on account
Expecting a smaller tax bill this year, perhaps because profits have dropped or an income source has ended? You can ask HMRC to lower your payments on account, in one of two ways:
- In your HMRC online account. Open your most recent Self Assessment return, pick “Reduce payments on account” and enter the amount you now expect to owe.
- On paper. Fill in form SA303 and post it to your tax office.
Make the claim before the payment falls due so the change takes effect in time. Cut too deep, and HMRC will charge interest on the gap once the real figure is known, so use a sensible estimate rather than an optimistic one.
Spreading the cost
Splitting payments to HMRC: Self Assessment bills can be handled in instalments in two distinct ways, one before the bill and one after.
Budget Payment Plan: saving up with HMRC
With a Budget Payment Plan, you pay HMRC weekly or monthly by Direct Debit in the run-up to your next bill. You decide the amount and can pause or adjust it. It’s set up in your HMRC online account, and joining normally requires that earlier Self Assessment bills are fully paid; check GOV.UK for the current terms. If the plan doesn’t cover the whole bill, the rest is still due by the deadline, and any surplus counts towards it or is repaid.
Time to Pay: after the bill has arrived
If you already owe tax you can’t clear in full, ask HMRC for Time to Pay, preferably while the deadline is still ahead. Interest keeps running, but a plan you stick to can keep late payment penalties at bay. Our MTD penalties page explains how penalties and payment plans fit together.
Five payment slips to avoid
Using a slow method on the day. A Bacs transfer or new Direct Debit started on 31 January will land late; pay by card or Faster Payment instead.
Dropping the final K. The reference is the UTR plus K. Leave the letter off and your money may not be matched quickly.
Reaching for a personal credit card. HMRC won’t accept one. A personal debit card is free; a business card works but costs a fee.
Overlooking the advance payment. January often includes next year’s first instalment, so check your statement for the full figure.
Paying twice to fix an error. Ask HMRC to move the first payment rather than sending another.
No surprises in January
Payment worries mostly come from not knowing the number until the last moment. We tell clients what they owe well ahead of the deadline, remind them before each due date and, if their income has dropped, claim a reduction in their payments on account. Clients inside Making Tax Digital also get a fresh estimate after every quarter.
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- A tax estimate after each quarter
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For anyone with a return to file
- Your bill calculated long before January
- A reminder ahead of every due date
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Unsure how much you owe, or when?
Send us your most recent statement or return. We’ll walk you through the figure, the dates and the simplest way to pay, and price the work upfront if you want us to handle it.
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Questions about paying Self Assessment
Which bank account do I pay my Self Assessment into?
HMRC Cumbernauld (08 32 10, 12001039) or HMRC Shipley (08 32 10, 12001020). Use the one on your statement, or either if you don’t know.
What payment reference does HMRC need?
Eleven characters: your 10-digit UTR followed by K, such as 1234567890K.
Can I use a credit card to pay?
Not a personal one. Personal debit cards are free; business credit and debit cards are accepted with a non-refundable fee.
How should I pay if it’s the last day?
Choose your own debit card via GOV.UK, or send a Faster Payment. Cards count from the day you pay, even at weekends.
How can I tell HMRC has my money?
Look in your HMRC online account. New electronic payments show under Your balance and transfer to View payments and credits after HMRC processes them, within about a week.
HMRC Self Assessment: how to readjust advance tax payment amounts?
What HMRC calls payments on account are those advance payments. You can lower them through your HMRC online account, or with form SA303, if this year’s tax looks set to be smaller.
Is paying in instalments possible?
It is. Paying ahead works through a Budget Payment Plan by Direct Debit, and Time to Pay can spread a bill you’re unable to settle in full.
Does Making Tax Digital change how I pay?
No. It changes how you report income, not how tax is paid. The 31 January deadline and payments on account still apply.
A final check before you pay
When making payment to HMRC, Self Assessment taxpayers need just three things in order: the right account, the UTR with its K, and enough time for the method they’ve chosen. Pay a week early where possible, hold card or Faster Payment in reserve, and check your HMRC account to see the payment arrive. If your income has fallen, reducing your payments on account can take the edge off the next bill.
This guide reflects HMRC’s Self Assessment payment arrangements in October 2026 and is general information, not personal advice. Account details and rules may change; confirm them on GOV.UK first.
Sources
- Pay your Self Assessment tax bill: bank details (GOV.UK)
- Pay your Self Assessment tax bill: check your payment has been received (GOV.UK)
- Pay taxes, penalties or enquiry settlements, including card rules (GOV.UK)
- Understand your Self Assessment tax bill: payments on account (GOV.UK)
- If you cannot pay your tax bill on time (GOV.UK)