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Tax Returns Reminder
Decemebr 2011
We would like to remind business owners and the self-employed to send in their online self-assessment tax returns to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) by Tuesday 31st January or risk a £100 penalty.
We are issuing the warning after professional advice website Unbiased.co.uk claimed that consumers were fined an estimated £442 million by the tax man this year for handing in their forms late (£116 million) or miscalculating how much they owed (£326 million).
This year, for the first time ever, the deadline is absolute because a penalty of £100 will be charged for late filing, even if all the tax has been paid by the filing date, or even if no tax is payable for 2010/11. Those filling out a paper return for 2010/11 should also be aware that they face a new £10 per day penalty if they file after this date.
Tuesday 31st January is also the last day a Tax Return for 2009/10 can be filed before the taxpayer could be faced with a tax-geared penalty of up to 100 per cent of the tax outstanding on Monday 31st January 2011.
Ian Fawcett, Tax Partner, comments, “We strongly urge anyone who hasn’t yet completed their self-assessment tax forms to do so sooner rather than later, to avoid missing the deadline and receiving the £100 penalty. The amount of fines given out last year was particularly high, yet with some careful planning these can easily be avoided.”
He added, “Anyone who is filing their tax return online for the first time will need to have registered online beforehand and received a unique tax reference number through the post. Naturally this takes time to be processed so the best option is to get this done as soon as possible as HMRC will of course be inundated with applications and queries as the 31st January deadline approaches. Anyone who requires assistance on completing their self-assessment tax return can contact us here at Newby Castleman for expert advice.”