The deadline for self-assessment tax returns for the 2016/17 financial year was midnight on the 31st of January 2018. Approximately one in 15 failed to meet the cutoff date however which means that 745,588 people now face the risk of receiving a fine from HMRC.

Late payers can expect an initial £100 fixed penalty for late filing during the first three months after the deadline. Thereafter, additional penalties of £10 per day (up to a maximum of £900) can be demanded. In the worst case scenario, this can be followed by extra charges six and 12 months after the deadline.

Angela MacDonald, director-general for customer services at HMRC warned:

“If you’re one of the small number [of taxpayers] that missed the deadline, please submit your return now to avoid further penalties. We really don’t want penalties, we just want tax returns.”

If you missed the tax return deadline and are worried about the fees you may be incurring, please contact our accountants in Berkshire who will be able to help.

Around 11.4 million people in the UK, (predominantly made up of the self-employed and people with second incomes), were required to submit tax returns for 2016/17. 93.5% (10,687,761) – submitted theirs on time but 4.8 million left it late by submitting their returns less than a month before the final deadline.

HMRC received almost 1.3 million returns on the 30th and 31st of January 2018, accounting for 27% of the 4.8 million self-assessment tax returns submitted since the turn of the year.  Some 60,595 returns, or 17 submissions per second, were recorded between 4pm and 5pm on 31 January 2018, which saw 389,849 payments transactions processed on this day.

The Revenue received 771,331 returns ahead of the deadline for paper returns on 31 October 2017, accounting for just 7.5% of all tax returns as online submissions proved overwhelmingly popular.

MacDonald added:

“It’s really fantastic to see that each year, more and more self-assessment customers are submitting their tax return before the 31 January deadline. But we’re not complacent, we want the number missing the deadline to be zero.”

If you’re looking for trusted accountants in Bracknell to help with any aspect of your self-assessment, please feel free to get in touch and we will be more than happy to help.

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