Well it’s that inevitable sinking feeling. It’s 31st January, and once again some of us may not have managed to file the dreaded tax return. Before we all start to get too depressed about it, and grab our cheque books to send that £100 cheque to HMRC, let’s just remember that all is not lost.
1) Time to dispel a myth here… You will not automatically receive a £100 penalty. Any penalty which you do get is limited to either the tax that you still owe HMRC on 31st January, or £100 whichever is the LESSER of these two amounts. Therefore if you owe 50p, you will be fined 50p. If you owe £250 then you will be fined £100. If HMRC owe you money, then happy day because you cannot be fined anything, even if you are late filing your return. ( They will still issue you a letter telling you have a £100 penalty but this will be reduced when you do file your return and the actual amount of tax unpaid as of 31st January is established.) Feeling any better?
2) OK, let’s assume you owed money last year, will probably owe money this year but haven’t yet got round to doing your tax return. It’s still not too late to pay an estimate of what you think you’re likely to owe. This will help to limit any penalty. You can do this in a variety of ways for it still to be allocated before the deadline including via their online billpayment system, http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/payinghmrc/selfassessment.htm . I also hear, though don’t hold me to this that if you pay tomorrow 1st February by BACS or CHAPS then it will be deemed as having been received the previous working day, ( Friday) therefore you would not be penalised for late payment of your tax.
3) If you still have the inclination to try and file online by midnight tonight, but have not got all your paperwork together don’t despair. You can file your return based on estimates, making sure you check the box which informs HMRC that it is estimated and file an amendment as soon as possible. Again, this will help to limit any penalties.
Of course, this is all hypothetical as I’m sure we’ve all got this done months ago. Ahem. ( Please note , no advice intended with this blog, just sharing a few tips picked up along the way..)
