EVEN in normal times, January can be a stressful month for those who are filing their Self Assessment with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC)

But in a year when successive lockdowns have seen many self-employed workers lose all of their income, the looming deadline on the 31st is causing a great deal of heartache.

Especially for those who did put aside 20 per cent of their earnings for tax but have been forced to spend these savings in order just to get by while being unable to continue or find new work.

For one Middlewich-based wedding photographer, whose work was wiped out in one fell swoop last year, it left a bitter taste when he tried to ask HMRC for some level of reprieve.

The businessman, who wishes to remain anonymous, enjoyed a very busy 2019, but all of his work was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions on weddings and the numerous lockdowns.

One of the estimated five million self-employed people in the country, his Self-Assessment bill for the year 2019/20 is due by the end of this month.

He explained: “Each financial year, like many other self-employed people, I usually earn plenty of money the year after – in this case 2020 – to pay for the bill. But in 2020 I had nearly £80,000 worth of work cancelled, so had to live off my savings and work wherever I could, but this was only just enough for living costs.

“My tax was calculated at £8,000, and when I spoke to HMRC they were less than sympathetic and told me I had to pay it, end of story.

“I explained that due to COVID 19 restrictions my wedding work had been cancelled, and that I wasn’t earning any money due to three successive lockdowns.

“So, they set up a payment plan of £758 a month, which they expect me to find during this current lockdown period, again when all my wedding work is cancelled for the foreseeable future, when I’m not allowed to leave my house for other photography jobs, and the employment market does not look hopeful.

“I have spoken to many other self-employed individuals who are in the same boat as me and found HMRC to be rude and unhelpful. We know we owe the money and are willing to pay it, all we ask if that can we pay when we have returned to work after the restrictions. Surely there has to be some way they can help.”

A spokesman for HMRC said: “We want to encourage as many people as possible to file on time, even if they can’t pay their tax straight away. Filing allows taxpayers to benefit from HMRC’s significantly enhanced Time to Pay arrangements.

“We know some taxpayers and agents will struggle to meet the deadline and are carefully considering how to further ease the position for them, including options that would significantly simplify the handling of reasonable excuses for taxpayers, agents and HMRC.

“We continue to keep the situation under close review.”