Sending your Self Assessment tax return
Millions of self-assessment taxpayers who have left their tax returns to the last minute are rushing to file online by Thursday night to avoid being hit by hefty fines.
HM Revenue & Customs said that 2.5m tax returns, of the 8.1m expected in total, remain outstanding. A large portion of these are likely to be filed on the last possible day.
However, accountants warn that more than 1m people will miss the midnight deadline, resulting in an automatic £100 fine, even if they do not owe any tax. Last year, HMRC issued fines of more than £600m by the end of June.
31 January deadline for online tax returns
You must send your online Self Assessment tax return by midnight on Thursday 31 January 2013.
The deadline is only later than 31 January if HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) sent you the letter, telling you to complete a tax return, after 31 October 2012. In this case you'll have three months from the date of the letter.
If your online tax return is late, you'll have to pay a penalty. You can read more about penalties below in the section 'What happens if you miss the tax return deadline'.
You must pay any amount due for 2011-12 by 31 January 2013. The payment deadline is the same whether you send a paper or an online tax return.
HMRC recommends that you make your Self Assessment payments electronically. It's safe and secure and provides certainty about when your payment will reach HMRC.
When you make a payment, be sure to use the right reference number. It's called a Unique Taxpayer Reference or UTR. For example 1234567890K.
If you miss the 31 January deadline for online tax returns, you will have to pay a penalty.
The penalty is £100. You'll still have to pay this even if
- your tax return is just a day late
- you have no tax to pay
- you pay all the tax you owe before 31 January 2013
The longer you delay, the more you'll have to pay. There are additional penalties when your tax return is three, six and twelve months late. Together these could add up to a penalty of £1,600 or more, so make sure you get your tax return in on time.
Don’t send a paper tax return now - the deadline was 31 October 2012. You'll have to pay a £100 penalty straight away if you do and the daily penalties above will start even earlier. Send it online instead.
If you would like to find out more please contact us using grant@in2matrix.com for more information.
The information is intended to provide information only and reflects our understanding of legislation at the time of writing. Before making any decision, we suggest you take professional financial advice.
The information is intended to provide information only and reflects our understanding of legislation at the time of writing. Before making any decision, we suggest you take professional financial advice.
