Half a million incur late tax return penalties

Half a million incur late tax return penalties

Taxman sends out penalty letters to 500,000 late-filing taxpayers

ABOUT HALF A MILLION self-assessment taxpayers who are still yet to file their 2010/11 tax returns are in line to receive additional penalty letters this week.

The proportion of outstanding returns has nearly halved in 2012, down to 5.9%, compared to 10.7% last year, with 518,000 fewer penalties issued as a result and 273,000 taken out of self-assessment.

Tardy taxpayers can expect a minimum penalty of £1,200, comprising the maximum £900 in daily non-filing penalties, and a further penalty of £300 or 5% of tax due – whichever is higher.

The new penalty system was introduced in April 2011 in an attempt to boost the incentive to file on time and bring down the cost of chasing missing submissions.

Anyone receiving a penalty can appeal if they feel they have reasonable grounds to do so, such as illness or bereavement.

HM Revenue & Customs’ director-general of personal tax Stephen Banyard said: “We want the returns, not the penalties. This year, half a million more people have filed their return – which means we are issuing 44% fewer penalties.

“Where someone has a reasonable excuse for not sending a return on time, we will waive the penalty. We also recognise that there will be some people within this group who don’t need to be in self-assessment, and we will be happy to remove them from the self-assessment system and cancel their penalty.”

Share

Subscribe to get your daily business insights

Resources & Whitepapers

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata
Professional Services

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata

3y

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folde...

In the past decade, the professional services industry has transformed significantly. Digital disruptions, increased competition, and changing market ...

View resource
2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

3y

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professi...

In recent months, professional services firms are facing more pressure than ever to deliver value to clients. Often, clients look at the firms own inf...

View resource
Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine
Accounting Firms

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

3y

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

In a world of instant results and automated workloads, the potential for AP to drive insights and transform results is enormous. But, if you’re still ...

View resource
Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021
Making Tax Digital

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

3y

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

The first phase of Making Tax Digital (MTD) saw the requirement for the digital submission of the VAT Return using compliant software. That’s now behi...

View resource