You have until midnight Sunday to file that late tax return

Self-assessment taxpayers must submit their late tax returns by midnight tonight – or start to incur penalties. 

More than 1.5million taxpayers missed the original filing deadline of January 31 for their tax return for the year ending April 5, 2020. 

But Revenue & Customs said it would waive the late filing penalty of £100 for anyone who missed the deadline but managed to file by today. Those who owe tax also have until midnight on April 1 to pay any outstanding amount or set up a payment plan to avoid being stung with a five per cent late payment penalty. Yet experts have told The Mail on Sunday that some people may not realise they need to complete a tax return and risk heavy penalties if they fail to do so. 

Valerie Boggs, chief executive of charity TaxAid, says it’s ‘very common’ to see people register for self-assessment one year and then not realise they are in the system and must file a tax return every year after – irrespective of whether they have tax to pay or not. 

‘We see this happening increasingly as people move frequently between self-employment and employment,’ she says. 

Boggs adds that some people sign up for self-assessment after reading online that they can claim back employment expenses through a tax return. They then don’t realise they must tell Revenue & Customs if they don’t want to do self-assessment in subsequent years. 

Zena Hanks, a partner at chartered accountant Saffery Champness, has seen one case where a hairdresser has accrued £10,000 in fines although she didn’t have a penny of tax to pay. ‘She did the right thing and filed a tax return a few years ago to declare her self-employed earnings,’ says Zena. ‘Since then her earnings have been below the annual personal allowance. But she didn’t realise she still had to complete tax returns. Now her fines outweigh the profits from her business.’ 

Hanks advises anyone who has registered for self-assessment in the past to check whether they need to file a return.