You may have read in our blog last month that the payment deadline for Self Assessment was extended by HMRC this year, and that late filing and late payment penalties were to be waived for one month for all Self Assessment taxpayers. Now your friendly Hubu Accountants in Wales are giving you another nudge - and some extra info - to make sure you are fully prepared for the 28th February; the last date you can file any late online tax returns to avoid the late filing penalty.
According to the Gov.uk website, usually a 5% late payment penalty is charged on any unpaid tax that is still outstanding on 3 March. However this year HMRC is giving taxpayers more time to pay their tax, or alternatively set up a payment plan.
As a Self Assessment taxpayer, you will not be charged the 5% late payment penalty if you pay your tax or set up a ‘Time To Pay’ payment plan by midnight on 1 April 2022. You can do either of the above online.
Here’s the full Self Assessment timeline for your records:
31st January 2022 – was the Self Assessment official deadline (both filing and payment)
1st February 2022 – interest begins to accrue on any outstanding tax bills
28th February 2022 – is the last date to file any late online tax returns to avoid the late filing penalty
1st April 2022 – is the last date to pay any outstanding tax or make a ‘Time to Pay’ arrangement, to avoid a late payment penalty
1st April 2022 – also the last date to set up a ‘Time to Pay’ arrangement online
Please be aware as mentioned in the timeline above; while there will be no late payment penalty if you submit your Self Assessment by February 28th, there will still be interest charged on late payment. The late payment interest rate is currently 2.75%
For those submitting Self Assessment returns after 28th February 2022, the other late filing penalties (daily penalties from 3 months, 6 and 12 month penalties) will operate as usual. HMRC will not charge late filing penalties for SA700s and SA970s received during February. These returns can only be filed on paper - however please bear in mind that as we mentioned in our Digital Change blog a few months ago, from April 2023 all Self Employed people will need to join the Making Tax Digital (MTD) movement and get their accounting set up online.