Make sure you don't get a nasty surprise on 31 October
Monday 6 October 2008
When all the ghosts and ghouls abound at
Halloween, will you be 'tricked' by the spectre of a late Self
Assessment Tax return and face a horrifying £100 penalty 'treat'
for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)?
What is the deadline for submitting my 2007/08 Self
Assessment return?
The final deadline for submitting the details of your income and
gains on your Self Assessment Tax Return is 31 January 2009, in
line with previous years. However, HMRC has introduced a new 'paper
form' deadline this year to accompany the new-style green
forms.
From this year onwards, if you want to submit your form on
paper, the filing deadline has been brought forward to 31 October
following the end of the tax year; for the 2007/08 tax year, this
will be Friday 31 October 2008.
If you are sent a notice to complete a tax return after 31 July
you must send the completed paper tax return back by the later of
31 October or three months following the date of issue of the
notice.
For paper returns that are submitted by the paper filing date
HMRC will:
- calculate your tax for you (although you can calculate it for
yourself if you want)
- tell you what to pay by the following 31
January
- collect tax through your tax code (if possible and if you want
to pay this way) where you owe less than £2,000.
There are a very few cases where online tax returns cannot be
made. In these cases the deadline by which the paper return must
reach HMRC is 31 January. These are:
- SA700 - Non-resident Company Tax Return
- SA970 - Trustees of Registered Pension Schemes
- Certain individuals where the relevant supplementary pages are
not available online
What happens if I submit my paper form
late?
Paper forms submitted after the 31 October filing date will be
subject to a late filing penalty. This is currently an automatic
£100.
Late Partnership returns attract a £100 penalty for each
partner. Late Trust and Estate returns result in a £100 charge to
the trust or estate.
The due date for the payment of any tax liability is still 31
January next following the end of the tax year, so for the 2007/08
tax year this will be 31 January 2009. Where a £100 penalty has
been issued in respect of a late paper return, this can be reduced
to nil if the taxpayer pays their tax liability in full to HMRC by
31 January 2009. However, this method of reducing the penalty to
nil has been the subject of a recent consultation into taxpayer
filing behaviour and may not be available in future years.
Interest will be payable on any tax and Class 4 NIC that remains
outstanding after this date, with surcharges levied on sums still
outstanding on 28 February.
31 January is also the filing date for submission of electronic
returns, which means that, if you do miss the 31 October paper
filing deadline, you can still avoid a late filing penalty by
filing online either by yourself or with the help of an agent
instead.
Mike Warburton, Tax Partner at Grant Thornton says: "The new 31
October paper deadline is fast approaching, and those wishing to
complete paper returns should act now to ensure they are able to
comply. At Grant Thornton we implemented our online filing
processes some time ago, and currently file 89% of returns online;
this ensures our clients are able to benefit from the extra time to
collate their tax return information, should they need it."
Please click here to contact us if you
would like further advice on any of the above.