The Changes To Penalties And Interest For Self Assessments

Due to the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had worldwide and particularly on the United Kingdom. For those who are self-employed, HMRC has announced that taxpayers will not be charged the 5% late payment penalty if they pay their tax or set up a payment plan by 1 April 2021. The payment deadline for filing your self-assessment is 31st January and interest is charged from 1 February on any amounts outstanding.

Typically, a 5% late payment penalty is also charged on any unpaid tax that is still outstanding on 3rd March. But this year, because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, HMRC is giving taxpayers more time to pay or set up a payment plan. This is important to note if you are self-employed and you have been affected financially by the pandemic.

If you are needing to set up a payment plan with HMRC due to not being able to pay your self-assessment in a single payment they will allow you to spread payments in a monthly instalment type arrangement until January 2022. This has proved to be a lifesaver for some self-employed individuals across the UK. The latest figures show that more than 97,260 customers have set up a self-serve Time to Pay arrangement online, totalling more than ￡367 million.

Particularly this year but as is always prevalent every year phishing scams are going around with people pretending to be from HMRC. Be careful to not fall into the trap of one of these scams as that will be the last thing you need. HMRC have a page here with all of the information that you need to know about the ways and methods that they use to contact you.

If you are self-employed and you want to know more about self-assessments and crucial dates in the year that you need to be aware of as well as any support that might be available to you, why not get in touch with a member of our team here at D&K Accounting. A team of Profit-First professionals who have helped business and individuals across the country take control of their finances.