With the deadline for self-assessment tax return approaching, ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is warning that forgetting about it could leave you facing a fine from the tax man.                        

HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) requires anyone completing a self-assessment online return to send their forms to them by the end of January. The January deadline for online self-assessment has been in place for the last six years, in 2012 HMRC issued 850,000 fines for late and incorrect filing.

Brian McGuire, ACCA Ulster Network said: “The end of January is fast approaching and my advice would be to get your return done as early as possible. The earlier you start to do it, the more time you have to check that you have everything to complete it. As you may find for instance that you do not have all the interest statements you need. HMRC won’t hesitate in fining you if there are mistakes in your tax return. The last thing anyone needs is a wholly avoidable fine from the tax man, especially after the expense of Christmas.

“For many people filing an online self-assessment return is a straightforward process but if you are unsure about the information you are submitting seek the advice of a professional accountant. The cost of a professional accountant will be less than any accumulated fine from HMRC. Don’t be one of the, almost, a million people caught out each year.”

Families

ACCA points out that many families will need to be conscious of the deadline too because of changes to child benefit claims. Any parent who earns between £50,000 and £60,000 can elect to continue to receive child benefit but they must complete a self-assessment form and will have to repay a proportion of the benefit they receive, by way of a tax charge, at the end of the tax year.

Brian McGuire, ACCA Ulster Network, says: “If you earn over £50,000 and continue to claim child benefit but do not complete a self-assessment form you could be liable, not only to repay part of all of the benefit claimed by way of a tax charge on the highest earner of the couple, but also interest and penalties on the tax unpaid, even if it is an innocent mistake.”

If you miss the 31 January deadline you will be fined £100, regardless of whether you actually owe any tax. From then on, the fine will be £10 per day for the next 90 days. Meaning if you are three months late in filing and even if you owe no tax you will have a fine of £1000. More details about self-assessment, the deadline and penalties can be found on the HRMC website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/deadlines-penalties.htm if you need the help of a professional qualified accountant visit http://www.accaglobal.com/en/discover/find-accountant.html

ENDS

For further information please contact Shane Finnegan or Katrina Frazer at Aiken PR on 028 9066 3000

Notes to editors

1. ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the global body for professional accountants. We aim to offer business-relevant, first-choice qualifications to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management.2. There are over 20,000 members and students in Ireland.3. We support our 162,000 members and 428,000 students in 173 countries, helping them to develop successful careers in accounting and business, with the skills required by employers. We work through a network of over 89 offices and centres and more than 8,500 Approved Employers worldwide, who provide high standards of employee learning and development. Through our public interest remit, we promote appropriate regulation of accounting and conduct relevant research to ensure accountancy continues to grow in reputation and influence.4. Founded in 1904, ACCA has consistently held unique core values: opportunity, diversity, innovation, integrity and accountability. We believe that accountants bring value to economies in all stages of development and seek to develop capacity in the profession and encourage the adoption of global standards. Our values are aligned to the needs of employers in all sectors and we ensure that through our qualifications, we prepare accountants for business. We seek to open up the profession to people of all backgrounds and remove artificial barriers, innovating our qualifications and delivery to meet the diverse needs of trainee professionals and their employers.