4 March 2013
HM Revenue & Customs are set to send out 850,000 letters to taxpayers informing them that they are liable for a £100 fine for not filing their tax returns by the deadline of 31 January. The £100 penalty applies even if there is no tax due to be paid. It is anticipated that the fines will raise around £85m.
HMRC are advising that anyone who hasn’t yet sent in their 2011/2012 tax return will have already incurred a £100 late filing penalty. In order to avoid any further penalties, they should submit their return as soon as possible, as well as paying any outstanding tax due for the 2011/12 tax year.
Since the deadline has passed HMRC have received a further 60,000 late returns. These self-assessment taxpayers will still be liable for a fine but will stop running up daily penalties and interest once they have filed their returns and paid the tax due.
However, anyone who has still not filed their self-assessment tax return and paid all of the tax will face further fines of £10 a day after the end of April. If the tax return and tax bill is still outstanding by the end of July the penalty increases to 5% of the tax due and a minimum fine of £300. This penalty is then repeated after a further nine months.