If you were sent a Tax Return by the 31st October 2007 and want to be certain of avoiding the £100 late filing penalty the 2006-07 Tax Return should be lodged with the H.M. Revenue and Customs by the 31st January 2008.
If, however, a little extra time is needed to get your figures straight, you may be able to hold onto your Self Assessment form until as late as the 4th February 2008.
It is a fact, albeit widely unpublished, that H.M. Revenue and Customs, will allow the hard-pressed tax payer an extra day to complete and submit their 2006-07 Self Assessment Tax Return Form. What is even better is that, as February 1st falls on a Friday this year, those of us required to complete a Tax Return could hold on to their forms until Monday the 4th February.
While it is true, in theory, that tax payers posting their Return through the Inland Revenue’s door after the 31st January 2008, or 1st of February 2008 (if you have the day’s concession) will incur the £100.00 penalty, in practice this need not be the case.
As long as H.M. Revenue and Customs Officers do not work over the week-end, and you can be sure that the dreaded form can be safely lodged before the Taxman arrives on Monday morning the penalty may be avoided.
Those that miss the deadline and are charged the one-off £100.00 penalty should beware that the punishment doesn’t stop there. If the 2006-7 Tax Return isn’t delivered by the 31st July 2008 another £100.00 is slapped on the bill.
In addition to late filing penalties a 5% surcharge is charged on any tax due and not paid by the 28th February 2008, which together with interest at 7.5% on top can make the whole thing very expensive indeed.
Whether you be Self-Employed, in Partnership, a Company Director, an individual with foreign income, capital gains, or any other income to declare most of you will have already submitted your Self Assessment Tax Return Forms. Nevertheless, if, for one reason or another, anyone out there needs a little extra time to get their figures straight you should give the H.M. Custom’s and Revenue a ring today and ask them for your “day’s” grace.
Well, that’s if you can be sure you can get up early enough to beat the Taxman to his letterbox on Monday morning.
This article can also be read at online magazine About Your Money
