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The first installment (due by midnight on 31 January each year) is referred to as a 'balancing payment', and covers what's left of the previous year's tax bill. The second is an advance payment for the next year's tax bill and is due by 31 July.

Worse, failure to make a payment on time could also give HMRC an excuse to launch a lengthy – and potentially expensive – tax investigation.

Qdos CEO, Seb Maley, said, "Payments on account' are how the majority of the self-employed sort their tax bill out, and the system gives people a bit more flexibility around their tax affairs.

"The good news is that these scenarios are avoidable – you just have to pay on time. If your liability is difficult to calculate, or your income has changed and your bill is different from HMRC's forecast, all is not lost.