Money-saving guru Martin Lewis has urged million of Brits to act now to avoid a hefty fine by making sure they meet the looming deadline for completing your Self Assessment
Millions of Brits risk a hefty fine if they don’t meet a looming national deadline. Many of us don’t really have to think about our taxes, and are used to deductions automatically showing on our payslip. It may be slightly frustrating to see your parts of your wage taken away for National Insurance, Tax, and pensions – but at least we don’t have to work out the calculations ourselves.
However, around 12 million people have to sort their own taxes out, by filling in a Self Assessment form for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Contrary to popular belief, this isn’t just for self-employed workers, and applies to landlords, employees or pensioners with a yearly income of £100,000 or more, and people whose income, or a partner’s income, is over £50,000 and claim Child Benefit. As of January 6, 2025, HMRC revealed 5.4 million Brits were yet to have filed their tax return.
To clarify: you complete your tax return for the previous tax year, meaning this month people should pay their tax return for the 2023-2024 tax year (April 6 – April 5). Money-saving guru Martin Lewis recently took to X (formerly Twitter) to remind Brits about the fast approaching deadline.
“Have you filed your 2023/24 self assessment tax return yet (if you have to do one)?” he wrote. “The deadline’s 31 January. Miss it and it’s [a] £100 fine…” Martin went on to explain how if you miss the 11.59pm deadline on 31 January, 2025, you’ll have to pay an annual interest charge of 7.25 per cent of the amount owed.
“This interest will accrue daily, starting immediately on 1 February,” explained his Money Saving Expert team. “After 30 days you’ll then also be fined an extra five per cent of the unpaid tax on top. This late fee is then repeated at six months and 12 months.”
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If you’ve been hit with a £100 fine, the government does have a criteria of ‘reasonable excuses’ which allows you to challenge the penalty. Making a mistake on your tax return, not receiving a reminder from HMRC, having a cheque bounced or payment failed, or finding HMRC’s website ‘too difficult to use’ are not classed as ‘reasonable excuses’. But, the following may be classed as valid:
- Your partner or another close relative died shortly before the tax return or payment deadline
- You had an unexpected stay in hospital that prevented you from dealing with your tax affairs
- You had a serious or life-threatening illness
- Your computer or software failed while you were preparing your online return
- Issues with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) online services
- A fire, flood or theft prevented you from completing your tax return
- Postal delays that you could not have predicted
- Delays related to a disability or mental illness you have
- You were unaware of or misunderstood your legal obligation
- You relied on someone else to send your return, and they did not
If you’re still unsure whether you need to file a self assessment, you can check the full criteria here. You must tell HMRC by 5 October if you need to complete a tax return and have not sent one before. You can do this by registering for Self Assessment.
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