HMRC announces changes to late filing penalty for 2019-20 Self Assessment Tax Returns

HMRC has delayed the filing deadline for 2019-20 Self Assessment Tax Returns until 28 February 2021.

This means that you have an additional 4 weeks to submit your return without HMRC imposing their £100 late filing penalty.

What's very important, however, is that you still need to have paid your tax liability by 31 January 2021 - HMRC has confirmed that interest will be payable on any payments made after this deadline date.

What does this mean for you?

If you have already submitted your self assessment tax return:

If your 2019-20 tax return has already been submitted, then that's great news and this does not affect you! Just make sure you pay any tax owed by 31 January 2021 to ensure that you don't incur any late payment charges or interest.

If you have not yet submitted your self assessment tax return:

If your tax return has not yet been filed, we would still encourage you to finalise this as soon as possible. Whilst your tax return may have another 4 weeks to be filed, you must still pay HMRC any tax owed by 31 January 2021. To accurately calculate your tax liability, we need to have prepared your return, so please don't delay in getting any outstanding information to us - time is running out!

What if you're struggling to pay your tax liability?

If you are unable to pay HMRC, there is an option to agree an affordable payment plan which means you'll instead be able to pay by monthly instalments. In order to agree this with HMRC, however, you will need to have filed your tax return first. We'd therefore urge you to finalise this with us as soon as possible and let us know you're interested in agreeing a payment plan to spread the cost, as this is something that we may be able to help you with.

If you have any queries or would like any assistance, please contact us - all the details can be found by clicking here.