Did you miss the tax return deadline?

The 31st January deadline to submit your self-assessment tax return for the year ended 5 April 2018 has come and gone, but hundreds of thousands of people now run the risk of a £100 fine because they failed to submit their self-assessment on time.

According to HM Revenue & Customs, more than 10 million taxpayers submitted their self-assessment return before the deadline, typically because they are self-employed, run their own business or have untaxed income or capital gains, such as from a buy-to-let property, a trust or investment portfolio.

But hundreds of thousands of returns are believed to still be outstanding, and many of these people are now at risk of paying a penalty.

Whether you have just started out as a buy-to-let landlord or you are an established property investor, you were required to file your 2017/18 self assessment tax returns last week, and unless you have a reasonable excuse or had only registered to complete a return in the last three months, HMRC will be issuing you with a £100 late filing penalty, on top of any tax you owe.

But for those people who may not be able to pay the tax, there is help at hand.

HMRC can offer something called time to pay arrangements. If HMRC accepts the circumstances of an individual - you will be expected to provide a detailed breakdown of incomings, outgoings and assets - are such that they meet their criteria, they will then arrange a payment schedule with the individual to pay off the tax owing over the course of a few months.

This is without incurring any further penalties other than having interest accrue on the outstanding tax.

But for a time to pay request to be considered you must submit your tax return so that the tax can be calculated.

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