Have You Filed Your Self Assessment Accounts Before The Deadline?

As I am sure you are aware if you are self employed, this year HMRC have given you a little bit of slack and extended the deadline for sending in self assessment tax returns. Normally the deadline is january 31st, but this year, as they did last year, they have given the self employed up to February 28th to send in their returns and further time to pay any tax that is owed. This deadline has now of course passed.

Period Of Grace To Get Tax Affairs In Order

The time given people was extended as HMRC felt that, after all the upheaval that businesses have had to contend with this past 12 months due to the ongoing Covid pandemic, they should be allowed a period of grace to get their tax affairs in order.

A 5% late penalty would usually apply on any unpaid tax outstanding after March 3rd, but the rules have been changed. Here are all the details as copied from the Gov.UK website:

`This year, like last year, HMRC is giving taxpayers more time to pay or set up a payment plan. Self Assessment taxpayers will not be charged the 5% late payment penalty if they pay their tax or set up a payment plan by midnight on 1 April. They can pay their tax bill or set up a Time to Pay arrangement online at GOV.UK.

`Self Assessment timeline:

• 31 January – Self Assessment deadline (filing and payment)1 February – interest accrues on any outstanding tax bills
• 28 February – last date to file any late online tax returns to avoid a late filing penalty
• 1 April – last date to pay any outstanding tax or make a Time to Pay arrangement, to avoid a late payment penalty
• 1 April – last date to set up a self-serve Time to Pay arrangement online.
  There is no change to the filing or payment deadline and other obligations are not affected. This means that:
• interest will be charged on late payment. The late payment interest rate is 2.75%
• a return received online in February will be treated as a return received late, with a valid reasonable excuse for the lateness. This means that:

1. there will be an extended enquiry window
2. for returns filed after 28 February the other late filing penalties (daily penalties from 3 months, 6 and 12 month penalties) will operate as usual
3. a 5% late payment penalty will be charged if tax remains outstanding, and a payment plan has not been set up, by midnight on 1 April 2022. Further late payment penalties will be charged at the usual 6 and 12 month points (August 2022 and February 2023 respectively) on tax outstanding where a payment plan has not been set up.

• we will not charge late filing penalties for SA700s and SA970s received in February. These returns can only be filed on paper
• for SA800s and SA900s we will not charge a late filing penalty if taxpayers file online by the end of February. The deadline for filing SA800s and SA900s on paper was 31 October. Taxpayers who file late on paper will be charged a late filing penalty in the normal way. They can appeal against this penalty if they have a reasonable excuse for filing their paper return late. `

If You Need Assistance Get In Touch

If you have still not sent in your tax returns, or you need assistance with any other tax issues, please get in touch with the team here at WHR Accountants on 028 3752 2909.