Same or next day • online or telephone banking • CHAPS • debit or credit card online • at your bank or building society or the Post Office You need a paying-in slip from HMRC to pay at a bank or building society. 3 working days • Bacs • Direct Debit (if you have one set up with HMRC) • By cheque through the post 5 working days • Direct Debit (if you haven’t set one up with HMRC before) Reducing Your Payment on Account Self-employed income can fluctuate from year to year and if you think you will make less money this year than the previous year, you can apply to have your payment on account reduced. This can help you avoid overpaying tax and free up your money, rather than waiting for a refund when you can least afford it. However, some people try and reduce payments to help improve their cashflow believing that when the final bill comes through they will be in a better position to pay. You need to think carefully about this as you are basically just delaying the inevitable and you will have to pay interest on the underpayment. The S4B team S4B are a firm of Chartered Accountants based in Maidenhead who specialise in helping to seek opportunities to reduce tax liabilities. Contact us at [email protected] or call us on 01628 623444 to see how we can help you.