New penalty regime for late filing of self assessment returns 26/01/2012
Tax payers should be aware that from January 2012 there is a new penalty regime for late filing of self assessment returns. Under the new regime penalties can rack up very quickly.
The final deadline for filing the 2010.11 self assessment returns is 31 January 2012. If you miss that deadline by one day, you will automatically incur a penalty of £100. This applies even if you have no tax to pay, or if you have already paid the tax you owe.
If your self assessment return is filed more than 3 months late (i.e. after 31 May 2012) then the penalty is £10 for each following day (to a maximum of £900) in addition to the £100 fixed penalty above.
If your return is 6 months late then a penalty of the higher of £300 or 5% of the tax due is levied. Again, this is in addition to the above penalties.
For returns which are filed more than 12 months late a further penalty of the higher of £300 or 5% of the tax due is levied. This is as well as all the penalties above.