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Postal Strike and Tax Self-Assessment deadline
The tax self-assessment deadline is fast approaching - 31 October - and ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) warns today that the taxman is still expecting self assessors to get their tax returns in on time – either by paper or on-line – despite the postal strike.
Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of taxation at ACCA says: ‘The postal strike looks likely to continue as further industrial action has not been ruled out.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is warning that if people still plan to post their self assessment tax return, that they allow plenty of time for it to reach HMRC before the 31 October deadline.’
Chas Roy-Chowdhury adds: ‘HMRC is being strict about the deadline and says on its website that customers should be aware that it is their responsibility to ensure returns get to HMRC on time. They also advise filing on-line. This is a good way to handle tax affairs as on-line filers have a longer to file their tax return - until 31 January 2010.’
HMRC also suggests that people who want to submit a paper return deliver it by hand to their nearest HMRC office instead of by post. It says that normal arrangements will apply for tax returns delivered by hand on Monday 2 November, when there will be no late filing penalty. The late filing penalty is £100.’
Chas Roy-Chowdhury concludes: ‘It is good news that HMRC says on its website that there will be no penalty to pay if someone missed the deadline because of the postal strike.'
‘But the important thing to do is get a receipt from the Post Office to prove that you posted your return before 31 October – special or recorded delivery may be advisable. Tax payers should also be aware that the HMRC computer system will probably issue automatic penalty notices for returns arriving ‘late’ due to the postal strike. The tax payer will need to appeal against these in writing and HMRC need to be pragmatic in accepting the appeals and cancelling the penalties.’
Further details can be found on the HMRC website. http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?itemId=1081266911&type=CAMPAIGN&furlname=selfassessment&furlparam=selfassessment&ref=http%3A//www.hmrc.gov.uk/index.htm&domain=www.businesslink.gov.uk
For further information please contact:
Helen Thompson, ACCA Newsroom +44 (0)20 7059 5759 +44 (0)7725 498654 helen.thompson@accaglobal.com
Sharon Garfinkel +44 (0)20 7059 5788 +44 (0)7711 914 701 sharon.garfinkel@accaglobal.com