HMRC extends self-assessment tax deadline

by Aaron Strutt

Jan 27 2012

There will not be any fines issued by HM Revenue and Customs this year for anyone submitting their tax return in the first two days of February, rather than the normal January 31 deadline.

The public sector union, the PCS, is planning strikes at call centres and inquiry offices and they look set to co-inside with some of the busiest days in the tax year. The strikes are designed to protest against the appointment of private companies to run call-handling trails in two contacts centres.

HMRC has introduced much tougher penalties for those submitting their returns late, even if they don't owe any tax. And any strike would potentially make getting information from HMRC particularly difficult, especially for those leaving it late to submit their tax return.

David Gauke, exchequer secretary to the Treasury, told the BBC: “This strike could have caused thousands of people to incur fines, so I am pleased that HMRC has taken this common sense approach.”

27 January 2012