Self Assessment customers will not receive a penalty for their late online tax return if they file by 28 February, HMRC Chief Executive Jim Harra has announced. Importantly though, taxpayers are still required to pay their bill by 31 January 2021. Interest will be charged from 1 February on any outstanding liabilities. Customers can pay online, or via their bank, or by post before they file.
More than 8.9 million customers have already filed their tax return. HMRC is encouraging anyone who has not yet filed their tax return to do so by 31 January, if possible. But 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.
Normally, late filing penalties are applied to all returns filed after the 31 January deadline. Those penalties are cancelled if the customer has a reasonable excuse for filing late. However, this year HMRC is not issuing late filing penalties for a month to help taxpayers and agents who are unable to meet the deadline. Late filing penalties will not be issued for online tax returns received by 28 February.
We’ve previously reported that taxpayers can spread their bill over 12 months, which you can read about here.
