The new deadline for submission of self assessment tax returns for Individuals and Partnership business is fast approaching. Paper returns must be submitted by 31 October 2008 to avoid penalties, 3 months earlier than in previous years.
A common misconception at the moment is that the deadline has been extended by a month from 30 September to 31 October, this is not the case. In previous years there were no penalties if paper tax returns were submitted by 31 January, as long as you also calculated and paid any tax due by that date. From this year the paper tax returns have to be submitted 3 months earlier and any tax due is still payable by 31 January 2009. Paper returns that are filed after 31 October will normally incur a late-filing penalty of £100.
Deadline for filing tax returns online is 31 January 2009. Customers should not wait till the last day to file their returns as firstly, there are known issues with the HMRC online services which could result into failure of online submission of returns. Where a reasonable excuse exists, HMRC may accept an appeal and remove the penalty for the late submission of a paper return once they have reviewed a written ‘claim for reasonable excuse’. Secondly, HMRC systems may be ‘clogged’ as it has happened in the past.
For an individual tax payer who wishes to have their outstanding tax liabilities of less than £2000 collected via their tax code rather than pay the full amount by 31 January 2009 will have to submit their returns online by 30 December 2008.
Andica provides software for preparation, calculation of tax and submission of online filing of tax returns for Individuals SA100 and all supplementary forms and for Partnership business SA800 and all supplementary forms.
For further information please contact us.
