MILLIONS should take note of three key money deadlines coming within days.
Keeping up with high energy, food and other essential prices is taking its toll on millions of households.
There are dates approaching that if missed could end up adding bills – so anyone affected will want to avoid the extra costs.
Those who are self-employed and people on certain benefits are among those affected.
And anyone sending a letter or package will need to be aware of a big change to stamps.
Here are three things you won't want to miss out that are coming into effect in just days.
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Tax payment on account
Self-assessment taxpayers have days left to pay the second instalment of their tax bill or risk interest charges.
You usually need to file a self-assessment tax return and pay a tax bill if you're freelance, work for yourself or have your own business.
If you earn income outside your main job and earn over £1,000 you'll might have to do this too, for example if you have a side hustle.
The deadline for dealing with your second "payment on account" bill is midnight on July 31.
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Payments on account are two advance payments that most self-assessed taxpayers must make each year in order to settle their tax bills.
The payments are usually based on half of your previous year's tax bill, but you can apply to lower them if you think your tax bill will be substantially lower.
These payments are not optional and if you don't settle on time you will be charged interest on the amount owed.
The interest is set at 2.5 percentage points above the Bank of England base rate and currently stands at 7.5%.
This may increase further when the base rate is reviewed again in August.
Non-barcoded stamps
If you have any non-barcoded stamps lying about then you'll want to make sure you use them now.
Royal Mail is replacing current stamps with new barcoded ones by July 31.
It has already started to phase in newer barcoded stamps, and these will replace old-style stamps within just weeks.
If you continue to use old stamps after July 31, you could face a surcharge in the same way that you would if you sent mail with no or insufficient postage.
You'll only be able to use the new stamps from that date.
Stamps can be traded in before the cut-off deadline – and Royal Mail will let you do it for free.
Customers will have to fill out a "Swap-Out" form on Royal Mail website or call the postal giant directly to request a form.
Alternatively, you can get one in person from a local delivery office – but not a Post Office.
You can find your local delivery office by using the online locator tool on the Royal Mail website.
You'll then have to post back the stamps you want to swap to a Freepost address.
But if you have more than £200 worth of stamps, Royal Mail recommends these are sent by recorded delivery.
And if you have more than £2,500 worth of stamps to swap, you need to contact the Royal Mail’s offices in Edinburgh.
Tax credits renewal
Hundreds of thousands of people have until July 31 to renew their tax credits.
If they don't then they could miss out on £3,685 a year.
There are two types of tax credits – working tax and child tax credit.
Working tax credit is given to people who are on low incomes or are registered as disabled.
Child tax credit is given to adults who have children under 16 who are dependent on them.
You do not need to have children to claim working tax credit. However, you must already claim working tax credit to get child tax credit.
The exact amount of working tax credit you get depends on your circumstances, but you are entitled to a basic amount worth up to £2,280 a year.
Families must check the information in their renewal pack is correct and respond to HMRC.
They'll need to notify the taxman of any changes to their circumstances which may affect their claim.
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More than 500,000 tax credits customers will need to reply to HMRC by the deadline to confirm their circumstances for the 2023/24 tax year.
If they don't act by the deadline, the benefit could be stopped, and they could even have to pay the money back.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
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