Late Filing and Payment Penalties

## We have now passed the filing deadline for 2018/19 tax returns If you are one of the nearly one million people that failed to meet that deadline you will already have a £100 late filing penalty. If you continue to delay filing, then you could suffer further penalties. When a return is more than 3 months late, £10 daily filing penalties apply. These run for up to 90 days, adding a potential £900 to the amount due. It is therefore possible to suffer penalties of £1,000 on a return even if there is no tax due. Once a return is 6 months late a penalty of 5% of the tax due or £300 if more is added, with a matching penalty arising once a return is 12 months late. These last two penalties are restricted to the total tax due, so anyone owing less than £600 will have their penalties reduced accordingly. If you fail to pay your tax on time, then this can also be subject to penalties. You will receive a penalty of 5% of the tax outstanding when payment is 30 days late. A further 5% penalty applies when payment is 6 months late, with another arising when it is 12 months late. These penalties are based on the amount still due on those dates, so paying what you can in advance of these dates will reduce those penalties. Interest is also charged on late payments. If you are struggling to keep on top of your tax return affairs, then we are here to help. We not only advise on how to legally minimise tax bills; we also make great effort to ensure our clients file on time and do not suffer penalties. If you would like us to help you, then please call us on 01892 807001.