No fines for late self assessment filing
February 18, 2008
HM Revenue and Customs has stated that taxpayers who filed their returns last weekend, several days after the 31st January deadline, will not be fined the traditional £100 penalty following problems with the website that left many people unable to file their self assessment. Many people tried to file on the last day, which was January 31st, but technical problems with the HMRC website meant that they were unable to do so. As a result the deadline for returns was extended to midnight on the following day.
However, although HMRC officials were confident that the system has returned to normal there were still difficulties that left many people stranded when it came to filing their self assessment in time. Officials from HMRC have now stated that anyone that filed returns over the weekend of 2nd and 3rd February, whether online or via paper returns, will not have to pay the £100 penalty.
One industry official stated that many taxpayers left it till the last minute to file their claims, describing this as ‘human nature’. He added that HMRC needed to invest more heavily in its technology with this in mind, stating: “The Revenue are told every year about this. It was not a horrendous number of people trying to file online. The only other thing they can do is offer people an incentive to file earlier.”
Over seven thousand taxpayers are thought to have filed returns online over the weekend following the original deadline, and these people – as well as those whose returns arrived at tax office by Monday morning – will be able to avoid the £100 penalty.
Comments
Got something to say?