Hundreds of thousands of taxpayers are leaving it very late to file their Self Assessment tax return and avoid a penalty.
The deadline had been January 31, 2022 but HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) gave people extra time until Monday, February 28.
About 12.2 million customers are expected to file a tax return for 2020 to 2021 tax year and more than 10.2 million were received by January 31.
About 1.5 million customers have just one week left to complete their late tax return.
HMRC has given customers until April 1 to pay their outstanding tax bill or set up a time to pay arrangement to avoid receiving a late payment penalty.
Interest has been applied to all outstanding balances since 1 February.
Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said: "There is one week left to complete your tax return if you haven’t done so already.
"And for anyone who is worried about paying their tax bill, there is support available – search ‘pay my Self Assessment’ on GOV.UK."
The 2020/21 tax return covers earnings and payments during the pandemic.
You’ll pay a late filing penalty of £100 if your tax return is up to 3 months late. You’ll have to pay more if it’s later, or if you pay your tax bill late.
You’ll be charged interest on late payments.
Customers will need to declare if they received any grants or payments from the COVID-19 support schemes up to April 5 2021 on their Self Assessment, as these are taxable, including:
- Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS)
- Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
- other COVID-19 grants and support payments such as self-isolation payments, local authority grants and those for the Eat Out to Help Out scheme
The £500 one-off payment for working households receiving tax credits should not be reported in Self Assessment.
