A take action but do not worry plea has been issued by the Managing Director of JF Hornby & Co after HMRC revealed that an estimated one million people failed to meet the 31 January self assessment deadline.
Paul Hornby has urged anyone who did not meet their obligations to take immediate action and to seek help if they are struggling with the process.
But he has warned against allowing the situation to become stressful, adding: “While it is not an ideal position, it is certainly fixable. However, with financial penalties already in play interest now being accrued, swift action is required.”
More than 11.48 million taxpayers filed their self assessment tax returns before midnight on 31 January.
However, more than 12 million self assessment taxpayers were expected to file a tax return and pay any tax owed by the deadline.
HMRC says that anyone who needs to file a return and missed the deadline should meet their tax obligations as soon as possible, as late filing and late payment penalties are charged.
The tax authority said that 97.25% of tax returns were filed online, with 475,722 taxpayers waiting until the final day to file their return.
On 31 January, 27,456 people submitted their returns in the final hour, while the busiest hour for submitting a return was 17:00 to 17:59, when 32,982 people filed.
HMRC advisers handled 5,409 webchats and 10,483 calls to the helplines, which, unusually, were opened on a Saturday to provide extra support to taxpayers on deadline day.
You can contact the team at JF Hornby on 01229 588077 or email JFH@jfhornby.com for help and support.
