An Altrincham accountants is warning small businesses to complete their online tax returns well before the January 31st deadline – or risk an immediate £100 penalty.
Local tax specialist Phil Cornish is urging bosses not to get distracted and miss the deadline in what, particularly for leisure and retail industries, can be a particularly busy time of the year.
Last year a total of 890,000 people missed the deadline.
Cornish, who owns TaxAssist Accountants on Stamford New Road, said: “The 31st January tax deadline still sneaks up on many small businesses, resulting in nearly a million UK taxpayers receiving immediate £100 penalties for missing the deadline each year.
“This penalty applies even if they have no tax to pay, or have, in fact, already paid the tax they owe. Returns which are three months late face an additional £10 a day penalty up to a maximum of £900 and even harsher penalties are applied if the delay is over six months.
“The future of tax collection, including replacing the annual tax return with quarterly reporting and a new points-based penalty system, are still being debated, but in the meantime we’re urging the local business community not to leave it too late.”
TaxAssist is open on Saturday mornings throughout January and offers a 24-hour turnaround on tax returns.
Cornish added: “It’s not too late – last year we helped two people file their returns when they called in on the last day of January.
“Don’t forget you need to submit a return if you are self-employed, have rental property, are a company director, are asked to send one by HMRC or have any other untaxed income.”
Phil Cornish is available on 0161 929 1026 and philcornish@taxassist.co.uk. TaxAssist Accountants is located at 35 Stamford New Road in Altrincham town centre.
