Good news from HMRC recently. Self-assessment taxpayers will be given another month to file their tax returns to ease the workload on HMRC staff, accountants and other agents ...
So, far, nearly 6 and a half million individuals have already filed their 2020/21 tax return though HMRC is expecting another 6 million or so to be filed in January alone. This is a huge amount of work for HMRC staff to deal with, not to mention problems COVID-19 is causing for accountants and other agents having staff absences and work from home orders.
So, although the deadline to file your tax return and pay what you owe remains the 31st of January 2022, you do have another month now without penalties.
The penalty waivers mean that:
- anyone who cannot file their return by the 31 January deadline will not receive a late filing penalty if they file online by 28 February
- anyone who cannot pay their Self Assessment tax by the 31 January deadline will not receive a late payment penalty if they pay their tax in full, or set up a Time to Pay arrangement, by 1 April
Interest will be payable from 1 February, as usual, so it is still better to pay on time if possible!
With Omicron sweeping the nation, I feel this is a very positive move by HMRC in the face of mounting staff absences, but I must also strongly recommend that if you can file your tax return, and pay what you owe, buy the 31st of January 2022, then definitely do so.
And don't forget, the Time to Pay scheme allows you to spread your tax payments if you need to.
If you feel inspired to find out more about anything I've said here, do call me on 01908 774320 or leave a comment below and I'll be in touch as soon as I can.