The deadline for submitting your Self Assessment tax return for 2013-14 has passed. The online filing date, after which penalties apply, was midnight, 31 January 2015.
Penalties for individuals:
If you failed to make the filing deadline a range of penalties becomes payable, or potentially payable, how much will depend on how quickly you bring your affairs up-to-date.
Penalties are progressive: they apply from 1 day, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after 31 January 2015 for the 2013-14 return.
- One day late: an automatic penalty of £100 applies.
- 3 months late: a daily penalty of £10 per day for a maximum of 90 days applies (£900).
- 6 months late: a further £300 or 5% of any tax outstanding, whichever is the greater.
- 12 months late: a further £300 or 5% of any tax outstanding, whichever is the greater. In serious cases you may be asked to pay 100% of the tax due instead.
The above penalties are in addition to any penalties and interest for paying tax late.
Penalties for partners:
There is a nasty sting in the tail for partners who fail to submit their partnership Self Assessment return on time.
Even though a partnership tax return is one document each partner will be charged a penalty for late filing. If a partner is also late in filing their own tax return then separate penalties will apply.
The penalties listed in points 1 and 2 above will be payable by each partner. The penalties in points 3 and 4 will be limited to £300 per partner.
Opportunities to appeal against a penalty charge are considered in the next article.