HMRC SENDS 1.8 MILLION TAX BILLS TO UK HOUSEHOLDS THIS SUMMER

HM Revenue and Customs has issued approximately 1.8 million Simple Assessment letters to UK households, according to an alert issued on Tuesday. The letters, officially designated PA302, set out the amount of tax owed and the reasons for the liability. HMRC urged recipients not to ignore the correspondence and to check the figures against their own records. Payments can be made in full or in instalments by 31 January 2027 through the HMRC app, online, by bank transfer or by cheque.

Simple Assessment letters are issued when HMRC cannot collect tax automatically through PAYE or Self Assessment. Reasons for receiving a letter include unpaid tax on savings interest or dividends, a second untaxed income, tax due on pension income, receipt of more tax-free allowance than entitled, or tax amounts too large to collect through a tax code. Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC's chief customer officer, said people should use the HMRC app to pay any tax owed and seek support on GOV.UK if needed. The letters arrive by post or appear in a customer's Personal Tax Account online.

The alert comes as separate reporting indicates HMRC recovered £104 million from landlords during the past year through voluntary disclosures and enforcement action, the third consecutive year the figure exceeded £100 million. According to accountancy firm Price Bailey, 11,511 voluntary disclosures were made by landlords, the highest number since 2018/19, with an average recovery of £9,063 per disclosure. Price Bailey identified approximately 2.4 million private landlords in the UK as potentially at risk, noting that HMRC is using Land Registry records to identify property owners who may have failed to declare rental income.