HMRC has announced that the deadlines for filing your Self Assessment tax return and paying any tax due, have been extended. This gives people a bit more time to get everything in order if they need it.
The extension means that:
The Self Assessment tax return can be filed up to midnight on 28 February 2022
Any tax due must be settled by 1 April 2022, giving you more time to pay before fines are imposed
Before you delay your Self Assessment submission it’s important you understand:
Daily interest charges will still apply to late payments at the current rate of 2.75% p.a. for any tax unpaid from 1 February 2022. This means if you can, it’s still likely better to submit your return before the usual 31 January deadline
Filing after 31 January 2022 but before 28 February 2022 will mean that the return is shown as late but with a reasonable excuse, although this is really only relevant if HMRC decides to open an enquiry into your tax affairs
An automatic late filing penalty of £100 will be imposed for Self Assessment tax returns filed after the 28 February midnight deadline. Late filing penalties do increase again after three months. So delaying the filing of your Self Assessment until after 28 February really should be avoided
If the tax due is not paid by midnight on 1 April 2022 or a payment plan not agreed with HMRC by that date, there will be an automatic 5% late payment penalty applied to the tax due with further late payment penalties charged at six and 12 months being August 2022 and February 2023
If you cannot afford to pay the tax due by midnight on 1 April 2022 then you can contact HMRC to set up a time to pay plan before the payment deadline
