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Tax Confident

What is Simple Assessment?

 

 

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Sometimes, you may find that we send you a Simple Assessment letter. This is called a PA302.

It’s nothing to worry about. It’s a normal process that means we’ve already ‘assessed’ (or worked out) the Income Tax you owe, so you don’t have to.

Let’s learn a bit more about Simple Assessment, like who gets one, and what to do if a letter arrives.

It’s an automatic, simple tax bill

Simple Assessment is an easy way for us to let you know about any tax you owe.

It happens if we can’t collect what you owe through your wages or pension. It means you don’t have to do a tax return.

To work out what you owe, we use information that we already have about you from your employers, banks, and the Department for Work and Pensions. We then send you a letter to let you know the amount and how to pay.

You’ll get your Simple Assessment letter in the post, or online if you’ve chosen to go paperless.

There are no sums for you to do. We do all the work for you.

Simple Assessment isn’t Self Assessment

Their similar names mean a lot of people get these two confused, but they’re actually very different.

With ‘Self’ Assessment, you let us know your income and expenses by sending us a tax return each year. You can learn more about it on our Self Assessment page.

‘Simple’ Assessment is different, because we do all the number work for you and send you the result. It’s made to make life easier for people with straightforward tax situations.

Why you receive a Simple Assessment

We send you a Simple Assessment when we can’t collect tax you owe automatically, or in any other way.

For example, if you:

  • owe tax on your State Pension 
  • make money from interest on savings
  • owe tax that we couldn’t collect through your tax code
  • owe £3,000 or more from a previous tax year

Key thing to remember:

If you have savings, most people can get some interest each year, tax-free. This is called your Personal Savings Allowance. You can find out more about it on GOV.UK and on our savings and investments page.

The letter says it all

Your Simple Assessment letter (PA302) will show you:

  • a breakdown of your income (earnings, pensions, savings interest)
  • the amount you owe
  • the deadline for payment
  • your payment reference number

You can also see your Simple Assessment online and in our HMRC app. Find out how to download the app on GOV.UK.

It’s always worth checking

We use information carefully collected from employers, banks and the Department for Work and Pensions, so your Simple Assessment letter is usually very accurate. But it’s still worth checking it, just in case some of the information given to us was incomplete or out of date.

Helpful tip:

Before you pay the tax you owe, compare the amounts in your letter with your own records like bank statements, pension letters and your P60 (that’s the yearly tax summary you get with your April payslip). Make sure we have included everything you’ve earned and any tax you’ve already paid.

If something looks wrong, you’ll need to tell us within 60 days of the date on your letter.

When you need to pay

If we send your Simple Assessment letter before 31 October, you’ll need to pay the amount shown on or before 31 January the next year. If we send it after 31 October, you have 3 months from the date of the letter to pay. Don’t worry, the deadline will be clearly shown on your letter.

You can pay in several ways:

You can also pay in smaller amounts before the deadline if that’s easier for you.

Tax made simple

Getting any letter about tax can be a bit worrying, but Simple Assessment is designed to make tax clear and simple. And if you do need any help with it, we’re here to support you.

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