Many taxpayers could face two problems filing self-assessment tax returns by the 31 January deadline, says Neasa MacErlean in The Observer. Some will struggle to finish on time. It must now be done online (you will be hit with a £100 fine for using the paper version). But HMRC’s software was “riddled with flaws” a few months ago, which could delay you. If you do hit problems, print out the error message and send it to HMRC with a form available online [pdf file]. Provided you do, “the revenue is being quite broad minded about computer errors”, says one tax expert.
The next problem is how to pay tax due. This could be difficult for the self-employed, for whom the January payment often represents the lion’s share of the total tax due for the year. But the Revenue’s new Business Payment Support Service (0845-302 1435) offers a fast response to a request to reschedule business tax payments, with no cap on the amount. The service isn’t for employees, who should go by the normal route of ringing the number given on their HMRC statement of account.