MSE News: Postal strike warning for tax returns

Former_MSE_Natasha

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"If you want to submit your 2008/09 tax self assessment on paper this year, you’ve just a matter of days for it to get there. Plus a postal strike to contend with too..."

Read the full story:
Postal strike warning for tax returns

penedawn

According to the HRMC you can take your paperwork to one of their offices locally to be delivered in-house. There is a simple page online where you key in your postcode and a map comes back showing you where your nearest ones are and giving the address, distance and adds several others within the vicinity. The map is a bit small geographically so you might need to pull up an additional one to be sure and if this is a bit complicated for some there are also numbers you can call instead. For example in N.London ther is one in Wembley, Harrow, Ealing etc.:j

tabbycat2k

Make sure you search for Enquiry Offices rather than just your nearest office.

gromituk

As no-one has posted the address of this magic page to look up your local Enquiry Office, here it is.

It is worth pointing out in the article that some tax returns can't be filed online without paying for Windows-only software to do so, because they contain extra pages. Mine does, and I complained that they should stop exhorting me to file it online when my return includes extra pages so they know I can't without spending money and having access to a Windows computer. Complaint got nowhere of course.

zannaht

I'm new to this posting business so hope I do it OK.

What I've done with my tax form is mailed it a couple of days ago, but also applied for online registration. The activation code only took a couple of days to arrive.

I plan to phone and find out if my paper Self Assessment arrived OK after the 31st. If it didn't then I can do it online as I now have an active account and shouldn't be fined

Hope it works.......

dori2o

If your paper tax return is received after 31 October deadline,you will be issued with a penalty notice. However, this is dependant on you having an outstanding tax liability as of 00.01 on 01/02/2010.

So, if you sent your return in late, you MUST, MUST, MUST pay all outstanding amounts due and be cleared into your self assessment account before 11.59pm on 31/01/2010.

If this is done the penalty is waived as the Revenue cannot charge a penalty where there is no outstanding tax liability.

Submitting your tax return online is simple, you get the calculation immediately, and you can also check your self assessment account once the return has been issued. This gives you the option of viewing your latest statement, checking payments, and requesting repayments.

I personally have no sympathy for those who complain about having to submit the form at the end of October. The form was issued in April, it's not as though you have not been given time to complete the thing.

Ste_C

dori2o wrote: »

If this is done the penalty is waived as the Revenue cannot charge a penalty where there is no outstanding tax liability.

This always used to be the case, however I'm not it is now. I seem to recall they changed the rules last year.

Kalula

My husband took his Tax Return to our local HMRC and asked for it to be forwarded to his tax office in Scotland. This was agreed and it was date-stamped in front of him, but when he asked for a receipt, this was refused ("We don't do that"). So although we trust that it will be forwarded, in the meantime my husband has no proof that he has actually handed it in well before 31st October - not very satisfactory.

Ste_C

He should have insisted.

In future, print out your own receipt and then get them to stamp it.

Knowing how HMRC's postal system works I'd say you would have been better sending it using special delivery - which is still guaranteed to be delivered during the strike. Bit late for that now though.

dori2o

Ste_C wrote: »

This always used to be the case, however I'm not it is now. I seem to recall they changed the rules last year.

It still is the case. A Penalty Notice will be issued if the return is received by HMRC after the due date, but the fact remains that they cannot charge a penalty if there is no outstanding tax liability as of 01/02/2010. Therefore the penalty would automatically be cancelled at 01/02/10 assuming that all outstanding liability had been paid.

This also applies if tax returns are submitted either online or on paper after the Jan 31 deadline.

suso

Ste_C wrote: »

This always used to be the case, however I'm not it is now. I seem to recall they changed the rules last year.

Can you please quote your source for this.

It is still the case that penalties for late filing are capped at the level of tax outstanding at the payment due date. (31st January after the end of the tax year)

So even if a paper return is filed late but all the outstanding monies are paid before the end of Jan then there is no effective fine. (you are fined but it is automatically credited, so total cost is zero)