Late Payment Penalty Waived By HMRC

HMRC has said that if you are a self-assessment taxpayer, you won't be charged a 5% late payment penalty if you pay any tax in full or set up a payment plan by the 1st of April 2021 ...

In normal years, the payment deadline for the submission of self-assessment tax returns is the 31st of January, with interest being charged from the 1st of February on any amounts of tax outstanding.

"This year, you have until the 1st of April!"

In addition, a late payment penalty is charged on any unpaid amounts of tax outstanding on the 3rd of March, however, this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, HMRC is giving self-assessment taxpayers additional time to pay or set up a payment plan.

HMRC has said it recognises that people are under a lot of pressure with their finances right now and encourages those people worried about paying their tax, who may also be unable to set up a payment plan, to contact them for help and support on 0300 200 3822 by speaking to an advisor.

So far this year, 97,262 people have used the self-service Time to Pay facility, which totals more than £367m in tax. Payment on Account can also be reduced if taxpayers know their 2020/21 tax bill is going to be lower due to loss of earnings because of the pandemic.

"This is something that doesn't normally happen and is most welcome!"

There are a lot of HMRC phishing scams going about at the moment. I've had a couple arrive in my inbox recently and on my phone by text too. If you are at all worried about these, visit search Google for 'self-assessment' and only go to web pages from gov.uk/hmrc.

And don't forget to file your tax return by the 28th of February so you don't get a £100 late filing penalty.


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.