'50,000 people' to be spared late tax return penalty

Date: 5th February 2008

Up to 50,000 people will avoid punishment from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for submitting their self assessment tax returns after the deadline, it has emerged.

Problems with the tax body's online filing system, caused by the high volume of people trying to file their tax returns before midnight on January 31st, meant that thousands of taxpayers did not complete the process until the weekend.

According to Accountancy Age, 42,703 people submitted their tax return on Friday February 1st, with an additional 7,188 filing documents on Saturday and Sunday.

HMRC stated that late filers would not be required to pay the standard £100 penalty as long as they had made a "reasonable attempt" to meet the deadline, although it also stressed that exemptions would not be granted automatically.

"No one who tried to file their tax return online over the weekend due to the delays occurring on Thursday and Friday of last week will be subject to a penalty," a spokesperson for the organisation explained.

Speaking to the BBC this week, Belfast-based tax consultant Adrian Huston suggested that HMRC considers using incentives for people to complete the tax return process earlier next year.