Self-Assessment: Did you submit your tax return on time?

I have to say that I’m glad that its February! I have worked in tax since the introduction of self-assessment, and dealing with the demands of meeting the 31 January tax return submission deadline doesn’t get any easier.

Where a tax return has been issued by HMRC but not submitted before 31 January, there will be an automatic £100 late filing penalty. Tax paid late will also incur late payment interest charges at the current daily rate of interest of 7.25%. There is still an opportunity to bring matters up to date in February in order to mitigate further penalties and interest.

Apparently over 1 million taxpayers failed to submit their 2023/2024 tax returns before 31 January. If you are one of those taxpayers, you should submit your tax return without further delay. If you know your UTR number, you should make a payment on account of tax – there is no need to wait for the tax return to be submitted to HMRC.

There is sometimes confusion regarding the penalty charged where an individual has an obligation to file a tax return, but they haven’t notified HMRC. In these circumstances a ‘failure to notify’ penalty may be issued by HMRC.

The ‘failure to notify’ penalty is based on the tax due, and the rate of penalty may be between 0% and 100%. The factors that determine the rate of penalty charged are the due date of tax and the individual’s behaviour. Lower penalty rates apply where an unprompted disclosure is made to HMRC.

I noticed in January that HMRC were continuing with their campaigns targeted at taxpayers who have failed to notify HMRC that they have self-employed earnings and need to submit a tax return. The target of their most recent campaign was self-employed delivery drivers.

If you need help with submitting your tax return(s), or you need to notify HMRC that you have tax to pay please get in touch.