Taxpayers will have an extra two days to file their self assessment tax returns after HMRC announced it would be extending the deadline to Friday February 2.
The news has been welcomed by business owners and individuals who face new additional charges for late filing this year.
The decision was made amidst fears that industrial action at HMRC’s call centre would cause disruption to the administration process. Around 80 per cent of call centre staff are expected to strike on January 31, the official deadline for filing self-assessment tax returns.
The Treasury has confirmed that no interest will be charged on payments due on 31 January that are paid on 1 or 2 February.
Tom Roseff, senior tax manager at Harrogate chartered accountants Saffery Champness said:
It is good to see HMRC take a pragmatic step to help taxpayers meet the filing deadline, particularly given the significant tax penalties that are incurred when the filing deadline is missed.
Arguably it’s a smart move on the taxman’s part as it will save a raft of administration as inconvenienced taxpayers faced with £100 penalties quite rightly make reasonable excuse claims for the late filing of their returns due to circumstances wholly beyond their control.
