The due date for the 2017-2018 tax returns Stoke Newington residents had to file was January 31 2019. It was the same deadline to pay any outstanding tax payments. If you waited until after this date, you face penalties. Over 740,000 taxpayers face a minimum of £100 in fines due to missing the tax return filing deadline. However, HMRC has announced that they won’t be sending out official notices until April.
Why?
HMRC made an announcement last week regarding the delays in sending penalty notices. The reasoning behind this was the prospect of a no-deal Brexit. The UK will leave the EU on March 29 and they expect that this will cause a surge in demand at call centres. They want to give the best service possible to customers. As a result they are pushing back sending the notices.
Sometimes, taxpayers don’t realise that they should have filed a self-assessment return. If this is the case then they might not have long after getting a penalty notice to appeal it before the fines rise to £10 a day.
However, HMRC have said that people will have weeks to respond after receiving the last penalty notice letters in April. In addition to this, self-assessment taxpayers receive regular reminders. This will help to ensure that no-one has an unfair penalty.
Penalties For Late Filing
If you have to complete a self-assessment tax return, you get the option to fill it out by paper before October 31. Alternatively, you have until January 31 to do it online using the HMRC website.
When you miss the date, even by a minute after midnight on January 31 2019, you automatically receive a £100 fine. This grows after three months to an additional £10 a day, with a 90 day cap. Therefore the maximum initial fine is £1,000.
When you are 6 months late, you face a penalty of whichever is higher, £300 or 5% of the tax due. This is as well as the existing fines. For those people who are 12 months late you have to deal with another £300 fine or 5% of the tax due in addition to the existing penalties. The worst cases involve people having to pay a fine of 100% of the tax due, doubling your original bill.
Brian G Lonis can help with the tax returns Stoke Newington residents need to file. Learn about our services by taking a look at our site and feel free to reach out if you would like to learn more.