More than one million people have missed the 31 January deadline for filing self-assessment tax returns, HM Revenue & Customs has said. Those who failed to submit by midnight face an initial fixed penalty of £100, which applies even if no tax is owed.
HMRC reported that 11.5 million returns were filed on time, but 1.1 million remained outstanding. On deadline day, 732,498 people filed, with 31,442 submitting between 11pm and 11.59pm. The £100 penalty will be applied from 1 March, with further charges after three, six and 12 months.
Charlene Young, a pensions and savings expert at AJ Bell, said rising interest rates, reduced allowances and frozen tax thresholds had drawn more people into self-assessment. She noted that many may not realise they need to file, and the £100 fine applies regardless of tax due.
Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s director general for customer services, thanked those who filed on time and urged late filers to submit as soon as possible to avoid additional penalties. After three months, a daily charge of £10 applies up to £900, followed by further penalties of £300 or 5% of the tax bill after six and 12 months.
An IT outage at Barclays on deadline day may have affected some customers, but HMRC confirmed they would not face late payment fines, which are not applied until 1 March.
