UK Investment Guides Loader

HMRC issues tax warning to 1.5 million workers

written by Bella Palmer
tax-warning

About 12.2 million customers are expected to file a tax return for 2020/21 tax year and more than 10.2 million were received by January 31

More than one million Brits have just one week left to file their self-assessment tax return to avoid being fined, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has warned.

The deadline for submitting tax returns was January 31, but, this year HMRC gave customers extra time to complete their 2020/21 tax return.

They have until February 28 to file their return to avoid a late filing penalty.

About 12.2 million customers are expected to file a tax return for 2020/21 tax year and more than 10.2 million were received by January 31.

But about 1.5 million customers have just one week left to complete their late tax return.

The government charges a £100 penalty if a customer misses the self-assessment filing deadline – even if there's no tax to pay.

Further penalties of £10 a day are then applied after three months, up to a maximum of £900.

If a customer misses the payment deadline, or doesn’t set up a payment plan, the customer will be charged 5% of the unpaid tax after 30 days, six months and 12 months.

But interest of 2.75% on outstanding payments will still accrue from February 1 - although they won't kick in until 30 days after the 31 January deadline.

HMRC has given customers until April 1 to pay their outstanding tax bill or set up a 'time to pay' arrangement to avoid receiving a late payment penalty.

The taxman has been charging interest on all outstanding balances since February 1.

The time to pay service allows any individual or business who needs it the option to spread their tax payments out into manageable monthly instalments.

Self assessment taxpayers with up to £30,000 of tax debt can do this online once they have filed their return.

HMRC director general for customer services Myrtle Lloyd said: There is one week left to complete your tax return if you haven’t done so already.

Lloyd said: And for anyone who is worried about paying their tax bill, there is support available – search ‘pay my Self Assessment’ on gov.uk.

Important:

This article is for information purposes only.

Please remember that financial investments may rise or fall and past performance does not guarantee future performance in respect of income or capital growth; you may not get back the amount you invested.

There is no obligation to purchase anything but, if you decide to do so, you are strongly advised to consult a professional adviser before making any investment decisions.

Share this post with friends!