The 31 January tax return deadline, and how to avoid fines if you miss it

The tax man’s publicity machine has made sure that we are all painfully aware of the 31 January deadline for filing our tax returns.

Quite correctly, he never fails to mention that penalties may be charged if you are late. But, he doesn’t tell you the full story.

Firstly, here are the rules for filing tax returns and the penalties for being late:

Returns must be filed online by 31 January
The balance of any tax due for 2007/08 must be paid by 31 January 2009. In addition a payment on account of tax for 2008/09 may be due by 31 January 2009
A maximum £100 penalty will be charged for late returns, however if the tax due is less than this the penalty is capped at the amount of tax outstanding
Further details are available on the Revenue website.

BUT, here are some ways that you can avoid having to pay fines:

1. Pay the tax due, or an estimate, before 31 January. Even if the tax return itself is late, there will be no fine if the tax is paid by the 31st.

2. Submit a tax return with estimated figures on it. You can resubmit at a later date with the right amounts and pay no fine.

3. Come up with a “reasonable excuse” for being late; eg something out of your control that has meant you could not get the tax return in on time, like your house (containing the relevant papers) burning down, or your computer hard disc failing. Whatever you say must of course be true!

4. Submit it by midnight on 1 February. The tax man is deluged with tax returns at this time of year, so they have a rule that any tax returns received by then are deemed to have been received on time.

If you would like to discuss any of the above, or to find out more, please contact Susan Kemish on 0118 9235811 or email susank@kandh.co.uk.