50,000 to avoid 'late' tax penalty

As many as 50,000 people who filed 'late' will avoid a tax penalty, it has emerged.

42,703 people filed their returns on Friday, one day after the 31 January deadline, and a further 7,188 over the weekend.

But due to HMRC's well-publicised problems with its online filing system, the individuals are expected to be given extra leeway and should avoid penalties.

A spokeswoman for the department said: 'No one who tried to file their tax return online over the weekend due to the delays occurring on Thursday and Friday of last week will be subject to a penalty.'

HMRC said that the exemption is not automatic but anybody who did not file by the original deadline could get in touch to explain and would not have to pay the fine if they had made a 'reasonable attempt' to file online.

The spokeswoman added: 'As per normal practice, no-one who hand delivered a tax return to an HMRC letterbox over the weekend will be subject to a penalty, provided the return was in the letterbox when it was opened on Monday morning.'

Further reading:

Self-assessment deadline pushed back a day