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Penalty warning for paper tax returns

Government Communications (NDS)

27 September 2011

If you send in a paper tax return on or after 1 November, you will now be hit with a £100 penalty – even if there is no tax to pay or the tax due is paid on time – following the introduction of a new penalty regime this year. The longer you delay, the more you'll have to pay, as there are further late-filing penalties after three, six and twelve months.So, you’ll need to act now if you want to send in a paper return and avoid a late-filing penalty. If you can’t send your paper return by 31 October, you can still avoid a penalty by sending your tax return online instead. However, if you do send a paper return after the 31 October deadline, you cannot avoid the initial £100 penalty by subsequently filing online.To find out more about the October deadline and sending a paper tax return, go to www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/deadline-news.htm If you send your tax return online, you get an extra three months to send it, as the deadline is 31 January. There are lots of other advantages too:* your tax is calculated automatically;* you get an immediate online acknowledgement; and * your tax return is processed faster, so any money that you are owed is repaid more quickly.Registering for HMRC Online Services is simple – just go to www.hmrc.gov.uk/online For help and advice on completing a return, visit www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa or call the Self Assessment helpline on 0845 9000 444.