Taxpayers who missed the self-assessment deadline in January have just hours to file their return before their fines sky rocket.
An estimated one million taxpayers missed the self-assessment deadline on 31 January until midnight today to make their submission and pay any tax owed.
A 5% penalty is added to any tax still unpaid after the January deadline – from 3 March.
This will be added to the £100 immediate penalty for missing the deadline.
If you’re six months late making your payment, you’ll be fined a further 5%, and then a further 5% after 12 months.
In some instances, HMRC will consider a customer’s reasons for not being able to meet the deadline.
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Those who provide a reasonable excuse may avoid a penalty.
People should also be aware that scammers may use the deadline to try to trick them.
If you are unsure whether you need to file a tax return for the 2024-2025 tax year you can use the Government’s online tool to find out.
Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Chief Customer Officer, said: “Thank you to the millions of people and agents who filed their Self Assessment tax return and paid any tax owed by 31 January.
“Anyone who missed the deadline should file their return as soon as possible, as penalties and late payment interest may be charged.
“HMRC digital channels are always the quickest and easiest way for people to sort their tax affairs. Search ‘Self Assessment’ on GOV.UK to find out more.”
A total of 11.48 million people filed their Self Assessment tax returns by 31 January.
Of these 97.25% of returns were filed online. And 27,456 people submitted theirs in the final hour.
Who needs to do a tax return?
The deadline for self-assessment tax returns was 31 January 2025, but you may still need to do one if any of these apply to you.
You must send a tax return if, in the last tax year (6 April 2024 to 5 April 2025), any of the following applied:
- you were self-employed as a ‘sole trader’ and earned more than £1,000 (before taking off anything you can claim tax relief on)
- you were a partner in a business partnership
- you had to pay Capital Gains Tax when you sold something that increased in value
- you had to pay the High Income Child Benefit Charge and do not pay it through PAYE
You may also need to send a tax return if you have any untaxed income, such as:
- money from renting out a property
- tips and commission
- income from savings, investments and dividends
- foreign income