A little-noticed HMRC consultation that closed this week could rewrite how millions of self-employed people in the UK pay tax, moving bills closer to payday from 2029. Bectu, the media and entertainment union, says the plan ignores how freelance income actually works. That’s why it’s not just creative freelancers who should be paying attention
If you’re self-employed, freelance, or run a small business through Self-Assessment, a policy change moving quietly through Whitehall could soon affect every invoice you send and every tax bill you pay. This week marked the closing date of the government’s Timely Payments in Income Tax Self-Assessment (ITSA) consultation, which proposes collecting tax much closer to the point income is earned, rather than in the current lump-sum January and July payments.
Bectu, the trade union representing workers across film, television, theatre and the wider creative industries, has formally rejected the proposals, warning they fail to reflect how freelance income actually works — and could tip already-stretched self-employed workers into financial hardship.
What is the HMRC “Timely Payment” consultation?
Under the current system, Self-Assessment taxpayers can wait up to 22 months between earning income and paying tax on it. HMRC’s proposals, published on 23 June 2026, would change that for millions of people from April 2029:
Self-employed workers who also have PAYE income could have a forecast of their tax bill deducted automatically through payroll, payday by payday. For those self-employed workers with no PAYE income, they could also be asked to make monthly, or more likely quarterly, in-year payments instead of the current twice-yearly system. These deductions would be based on the previous year’s earnings.
These proposed reforms will not increase the amount of tax due; instead, they bring the timing forward so that tax is paid closer to when the income is earned. Payments will be forecasted, based on past Self Assessment returns, with taxpayers able to update their forecasts. Taxpayers will report their actual liability and reconcile their payments with a Balancing Payment, or repayment from HMRC, when they complete their Self Assessment return, as they do now.
The consultation closed to public responses on 4 August 2026. HMRC has confirmed it will publish its response and next steps in Autumn 2026, with any legislation introduced in a Finance Bill ahead of the 2029 rollout.
Frequently asked questions
When did the HMRC Timely Payment consultation close?
The consultation closed on 4 August 2026, six weeks after it opened on 23 June 2026.
When will the government announce its decision?
HMRC has said it will publish its response to the consultation in Autumn 2026, with legislation following in a Finance Bill ahead of implementation from April 2029.
Who does the tax reform affect?
Primarily Self-Assessment taxpayers with PAYE income, an estimated 2.1 million people, plus others in Self-Assessment only, including many self-employed freelancers, sole traders and small business owners.
Less bill shock for future freelancers?
For new businesses, the government sees this as a good thing. HMRC stated,
More timely payments in ITSA has the potential to support earlier engagement with the tax system by encouraging smaller and more regular payment habits from the outset, reducing reliance on a single, large, first ITSA bill. This approach may help mitigate the risk of early ‘bill shock’ (where an ITSA taxpayer receives their first tax bill for the full tax year, and may also be required to pay a further 50% of their next tax bill through payments on account) and supports business sustainability during the initial stages of trading.
Has the Freelance Champion been appointed?
The government says it has hired someone for the role, as confirmed by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy in June 2026, but the individual has not yet been named publicly.
Why Bectu says the plan doesn’t add up
Responding to the consultation, Bectu warned that compressing or accelerating tax payment schedules without robust safeguards rests on a flawed assumption: that all workers enjoy stable, predictable, monthly incomes. More than 800 Bectu members submitted their own responses using the union’s template. Their response signals how much anxiety the proposals have generated across the sector.
The creative worker union’s submission set out three core problems facing freelancers under the new system:
- Irregular and fluctuating earnings. Freelancers rarely earn a uniform monthly wage. High-earning periods during major productions are routinely offset by long, unpaid gaps between contracts
- Mixed income streams. Many creative workers combine self-employed income with short-term PAYE contracts, making automated in-year forecasting far messier than it sounds
- Late payments and cash-flow strain. Freelancers already contend with delayed invoices from clients. Accelerated tax deadlines risk forcing people to pay tax on income they haven’t actually received yet
The creative industries are a driving force of the UK economy and depend on a highly flexible workforce, but too often policy is designed around assumptions of stable and predictable employment. More than 800 Bectu members have joined our call for a system that recognises the reality of project-based work, irregular earnings and periods between contracts. Any reforms must include flexibility, choice and strong safeguards to ensure freelancers are not left worse off.
–Philippa Childs, Head of Bectu
The Freelance Champion: still missing from the table
Bectu’s response also renewed pressure on the government to announce its long-promised Freelance Champion — a role first announced in the Creative Industries Sector Plan back in June 2025, designed to represent freelancers’ interests across government departments, including on tax policy.
Progress has been slow. In written parliamentary answers through late 2025 and into early 2026, ministers repeatedly said the appointment was imminent, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport was formally pressed for an update in February 2026 after the role missed its promised timeline.
In the meantime, a cross-party group of MPs and peers launched its own All-Party Parliamentary Group for freelancers in March 2026, partly to fill the advocacy gap.
The most recent development came in late June 2026, when Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy confirmed the government had hired its first Freelance Champion — but the successful candidate has not yet been publicly named, and no start date or first public engagements have been announced. Until that person is in post, freelancers still have no dedicated voice inside government to challenge proposals like the Timely Payment reforms on their behalf — which is precisely the gap Bectu says this tax consultation has exposed.
Since then, in July, Philippa Childs announced she will step down from her role in January 2027 after more than eight years leading the Bectu sector of Prospect union. The Freelance Informer speculated she may be the nation’s appointed Freelance Champion, but she has confirmed via a LinkedIn comment that while she would have loved to have “absolutely loved to get her teeth in the role,” she has not been appointed.
Pure speculation, but wouldn’t Childs be one of the best candidates for the Freelancer Champion? Freelancers may have to wait until January 2027 to find out, by which time HMRC will have published its response to the consultation set for in Autumn 2026.
What Bectu says self-employed workers need from tax reform
Bectu is urging ministers to go back to the drawing board and build any future reform around how self-employed and portfolio workers actually earn. The union’s asks apply beyond the creative sector:
Flexibility and choice: payment schedules that self-employed workers can opt into, aligned with their real income patterns, rather than a mandatory one-size-fits-all model
Comprehensive safeguards: hardship protections for workers going through long gaps between contracts or facing serious client payment delays
Dedicated oversight: the immediate naming and activation of the Freelance Champion to represent self-employed workers in policy decisions like this one
The implementation of Making Tax Digital and the new timely payments plan is causing uncertainty among the UK’s sole traders, so much in fact that 1 in 4 sole traders are considering leaving self-employment for MTD-related stress alone, according to a Taxfix survey.
As Bectu notes, flexibility cuts both ways. If the UK economy depends on an adaptable, project-based workforce, the tax system needs to adapt alongside it. However, if HMRC do not have a freelancer champion to answer to by this Autumn, freelancers must stay informed and prepare for more frequent tax reporting and payments.
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