£100 fee for late paper tax returns

Taxpayers face fines for late submission of self-assessment forms
12 April 2012

Taxpayers filing their self-assessment forms on paper face a £100 penalty if they fail to do so before the end of the month, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) warned.

Changes were introduced this year to encourage more people to file their returns online and tackle a hard core of taxpayers who send their paperwork in late.

Those who hand in paper returns after the October 31 deadline will be hit with the new penalty regime, even if there is no tax to pay or the tax due is paid on time.

Further late-filing penalties also apply after three, six and 12 months, HMRC said.

But those who send in their tax returns online have an extra three months' grace, as the deadline is January 31 next year.

Those who process returns online can also enjoy a quicker service and have their tax calculated automatically.

Most taxpayers using the self-assessment system, which covers the self-employed and those with multiple incomes, have switched to filing online. Out of around nine million people in self-assessment, some 6.9 million filed their returns online last year.

The Revenue's rules previously stated that a penalty could not exceed any tax due, but this changed in April when a new schedule of penalties was introduced.

The service has said these are aimed at a hard core of taxpayers who regularly sent their paperwork in late, causing a disproportionate administrative headache. Those who send a paper return after this month's deadline will not avoid the initial £100 penalty by subsequently filing online, HMRC warned.

To register for HMRC's online services go to www.hmrc.gov.uk/online/.

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