HMRC is handing out fines of up to £360 to households across the UK who failed to meet their self-assessment tax deadline on Friday.
Each year, millions of people who are self-employed, made money selling on the side, rent property, run businesses or are higher earners are expected to file a self-assessment tax return to tell HMRC how much tax they owe.
The deadline passes at the end of January for online submissions, relating to the previous tax year, and then new submissions open from April 6 for the next tax year.
As many as 3.4 million people who are liable to submit a return to HMRC still hadn’t done so by mid-January, meaning there is bound to be many who did end up missing yesterday’s deadline.
The fines for missing the deadline start off at £100 but rise with time as interest on the penalty is added by the taxman.
One person told the HMRC Twitter support page: “Good Morning. Woke up to a £360 fine for late self assessment. I wasn’t aware that I had to file a non return as I wasn’t self employed for that period. It turns out the form I filled out to say I’m no longer self employed never came through. How do I appeal to get this sorted”.
HMRC starts off with a £100 fine for late payments, but this increases with interest over time on late payment charges.
HMRC explains: “You’ll get a penalty if you need to send a tax return and you miss the deadline for submitting it or paying your bill.
“You’ll pay a late filing penalty of £100 if your tax return is up to 3 months late. You’ll have to pay more if it’s later, or if you pay your tax bill late.
“You’ll be charged interest on late payments.”
HMRC’s 10 allowed ‘reasonable excuses’ for filing a tax return late
But HMRC says there is a list of 10 ‘reasonable excuses’ which could permit someone to file a tax return late.
Such excuses include a death just before the deadline, a serious illness or a computer failure while preparing to submit.
It said: “A reasonable excuse is something that stopped you meeting a tax obligation that you took reasonable care to meet, for example:
- your partner or another close relative died shortly before the tax return or payment deadline
- you had an unexpected stay in hospital that prevented you from dealing with your tax affairs
- you had a serious or life-threatening illness
- your computer or software failed just before or while you were preparing your online return
- service issues with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) online services
- a fire, flood or theft prevented you from completing your tax return
- postal delays that you could not have predicted
- delays related to a disability or mental illness you have
- you were unaware of or misunderstood your legal obligation
- you relied on someone else to send your return, and they did not.
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