Late self assessment returns will face £10 daily penalty
Taxpayers who file their tax returns late will face a daily penalty of £10, HMRC has announced
PEOPLE WHO file their self assessment returns late will be subject to a £10 daily fine from April 6, HM Revenue & Customs has announced.
HMRC confirmed its tougher penalty regime today, which will result in a £100 automatic fine for people failing to meet the deadline, which will increase by £10 per day up to £900 for the first three months. For those filing more than three months after the deadline, a charge of £300 or 5% of the tax – whichever is greater – will be added to the £900.
There will also be penalties charged for paying taxes late, which will be a charge of 5% of the tax owed, increasing by 5% every 30 days.
The new penalties will apply to paper returns submitted after the October deadline and the January deadline for online returns.
A spokesman for HMRC said that around 10% – 1 million people – of all self assessment forms are submitted late.
HMRC’s acting director of general personal tax, Stephen Banyard, said: “The old £100 penalty was not much of a deterrent and these new penalties, which increase over time, will get people to submit returns as soon as possible. Basically the greater the delay, the greater the penalty.”