Posted: 14 / 01 / 2020
Hundreds of thousands of tax returns are filed late each year, including many by those who don’t owe any tax — meaning they may risk a fine of at least £100.
When is the tax due?
If you still need to file a return this year, it’s time to get moving — the deadline for filing your tax return this year is 11.59pm on 31 January.
If you miss this deadline then HMRC will charge you penalties and late payment interest.
Unsure if you need to submit a return?
Most UK taxpayers don’t need to file a tax return as their taxes are automatically deducted from their wages, pensions or savings. However, almost 12 million tax returns are due this year from individuals or businesses.
You will need to do a tax return if:
- You are self-employed and your income is more than £1,000
- Your income was more than £50,000 and you or your partner claimed child benefit
- You earned more than £2,500 from renting out property, or from other untaxed income such as tips or commission
- You earned more than £100,000 in taxable income
- You earned £10,000 or more before tax from savings, investments, shares or dividends
- You earned income from abroad, or lived abroad and had a UK income
- You need to pay capital gains tax
- You received income from a trust
- Your state pension was more than your personal allowance and was your only source of income (unless you started getting your pension on or after 6 April 2016)
- HMRC has told you that you didn’t pay enough tax last year (and you haven’t already paid up through your tax code or voluntary payments)
- You filed a self-assessment tax return last year (even if you didn’t owe any tax). You’ll need to do this unless HMRC has already written to you to say you don’t need to file one
What are the penalties?
A taxpayer who fails to submit a return on time can expect to receive penalties as follows:
| Length of delay | Penalty for late submission | Penalty for late payment |
| 1 day late | A penalty of £100. This applies even if you have no tax to pay or have paid the tax you owe. |
– |
| 30 days late | – | There will be 5% of the tax due |
| 3 months late | You will be charged a daily penalty of £10 per day, up to a maximum of £900. This is as well as the fixed penalty above. |
– |
| 6 months late | There will be a penalty of £300 (or 5% of the tax owing if this is greater). |
There will be 5% of the amount outstanding due. |
| 12 months late | You will be charged another £300 (or 5% of the tax owing if this is greater). In exceptional circumstances a higher penalty of up to 100% of the tax due is possible. |
There will also be 5% of the amount outstanding due. |
Confused about the submission process?
Paying tax bills and adhering to deadlines can often seem like rather daunting tasks to tackle, but this doesn’t need to be the case.
Our specialist tax team spend time with both businesses and individuals to ensure the correct amount of tax is paid at the correct time.
Accuracy is key when filing tax submissions, we take care of all of the paperwork, leaving you reassured that you are fully compliant and penalty-free.