Delays expected for self-assessment statements

Date: 26th July 2011

Small business owners and contractors in the UK could be encouraged to seek the assistance of a specialist accountancy service following recent events at HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

The department has apologised after admitting that up to 500,000 individuals will be affected by delays in sending out self-assessment tax return statements.

A report in the Telegraph newspaper claims the delays will come as a result of HMRC not ordering enough paper to cope with an increase in the number of statements that will need to be issued.

However, HMRC has claimed that penalty fines will be avoided if any tax owed is still paid in a timely manner.

Its website explained: "If [we] have asked you to make a second payment on account in July, you normally have to pay this by July 31st. You usually have to pay interest if you don't pay on time.

"If you receive your statement in August, you should still pay the tax due as soon as you can. You'll only be asked to pay interest on the tax due on the second payment on account if you still haven't paid it more than 30 days after you receive your statement."

Posted by Emily Smith