Deadline Day: The worst excuses for late tax returns from HMRC

It’s the final countdown! The deadline for returning 2014-15 tax returns to HMRC was Sunday, 31 January.

Online Sellers should have completed their assessment for the year – although plans are in place to be fairer to those with genuine reasons for late returns, deliberate evaders and those who are downright lazy will face penalties of up to £1,500!

We’ve chosen our top 5 excuses that were given to HMRC last year for late returns. Just in case you were wondering, none of them were successful, so don’t get any ideas!

The penalties for late tax returns are:

• an initial £100 fixed penalty, which applies even if there is no tax to pay, or if the tax due is paid on time;
• after 3 months, additional daily penalties of £10 per day, up to a maximum of £900;
• after 6 months, a further penalty of 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater; and
• after 12 months, another 5% or £300 charge, whichever is greater

Help is available from the GOV.UK website at www.gov.uk/self-assessment-tax-returns or from the Self Assessment helpline on 0300 200 3310.