Around one in nine (11%) of the 560,000 people in Inner London who had to send in a tax return last year didn’t do so by the relevant deadline – 31 October for paper returns and 31 January for online submissions.
The one million taxpayers in Outer London were more punctual, with one in 11 (9%) failing to meet the deadline, but they were still the second worst offenders. The tardiest taxpayers outside of London were in the North West of England, with 8% of their 890,000 returns failing to meet the deadline.
Taxpayers in the rest of the English regions fared better. The most punctual were in the South West, with only 6% of their one million tax returns arriving late. The other English regions, as well as Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, all registered 7% of late tax returns, which was the UK national average.
HM Revenue and Custom’s (HMRC) Director General of Personal Tax, Ruth Owen, said:
Whether you’re from London, Livingston, Lisburn or Llandudno, the consequences of missing the tax return deadline are the same – an automatic £100 late-filing penalty.
The longer you delay, the more you have to pay. So if you still have to send us your tax return, take action now.
Anyone with an outstanding 2012 to 2013 tax return must send it online, and pay any tax they owe, by 31 January.
I know that sometimes people simply don’t realise that they need to do a return, for example a newly appointed Director or someone receiving Dividends. HMRC often don’t know if you should be doing a return (if they think you should be they will contact you), so it is up to you to make sure you file a return and disclose your income to HMRC if any of the above apply.
As you will see your chances of HMRC accepting your excuse are slim.
Employment Expenses – Use Form P87
As an employee you can claim tax relief for expenses incurred in doing your job (if not fully reimbursed by your employer), for example business mileage, cycling on business, hotels, meals, business phone calls, in fact anything as long as its business related
If your claim is less than £2500 you can make your claim using Form P87 without the need to do self assessment.
So having workout you need to do a return. and having registered online, and filed your first return with HMRC, what if you later find you have make a mistake, what can you do?
If you make a mistake on your tax return you’ve normally got 12 months from 31 January after the end of the tax year to correct it. This is called an ‘amendment’. For example, for the 2011-12 return you have until 31 January 2014 to make an amendment.
The penalties for late Self Assessment returns are:
an initial £100 fixed penalty, which applies even if there is no tax to pay, or if the tax due is paid on time;
after three months, additional daily penalties of £10 per day, up to a maximum of £900;
after six months, a further penalty of 5 per cent of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater; and
after 12 months, another 5 per cent or £300 charge, whichever is greater.
There are also additional penalties for paying late of 5 per cent of the tax unpaid at: 30 days; six months; and 12 months.
What if you don’t have all the answers, can you put in provisional figures?
There are occasions on which some information cannot be finalised within the formal self assessment time limits despite the taxpayer’s best efforts to do so. In such cases the taxpayer should include a ‘best estimate’ of the information in the tax return and, if appropriate, a corresponding provisional figure of the tax due. The provisional figures should be clearly identified as such in the tax return. A tax return containing a provisional figure should only be submitted once it is clear that a more accurate figure will not be available before the filing date.
