Tax Deadlines & Late Filing Late Payment Penalties

Introduction:

As a taxpayer or business person it is essential to know the deadlines that are in place for the filing of company financial statements and tax returns, and the associated payment of taxes.

And in order to “encourage” taxpayers to abide by these rules Companies House and HMRC have implemented (in some cases severe) late submission penalties and interest on overdue tax that you need to fully understand and always be aware of!

1. SELF-ASSESSMENT (SA) PERSONAL TAX RETURN (PTR) DEADLINES

For taxpayers who submit self-assessment PTRs the following registration, filing, and payment deadlines exist (which occur after the end of the 5th April Tax Year):

• Self-Assessment Registration – 5 October
• Paper tax returns – 31 October
• Online tax returns – 31 January
• Payment of tax – 31 January
• There’s an additional payment deadline of 31 July if you make advance payments towards your bill (known as ‘payments on account’) each year.  This occurs where the prior year taxation exceeded £1000.  You pay an estimate of half the current year tax (being half the tax you paid last year) on 31st January, same again on 31st July, and the balance due / receivable on the following 31st January.

Late Filing Penalties

Each Penalty is applied in addition to the previous one.

Additional penalties may be applied if HMRC believes the taxpayer is intentionally withholding information or trying to evade tax.

Late Payment Penalties

Each Penalty is applied in addition to the previous one.

Interest is charged on the tax owing from the date it is due, including the amounts levied in charges, at a rate of 2.5% over the Bank of England base rate.

2. MAKING TAX DIGITAL (MTD) FOR INCOME TAX DEADLINES

MTD for Income tax starts in April 2026.  And currently only applies to Sole Traders and Landlord’s (Private Property Investors) who have “qualifying INCOME” (i.e. NOT profit) which exceeded £50k in the previous tax year.  This is important because it is the submission of a tax return for a prior tax year that triggers the need to register in the current year.

MTD does not impact your requirement to still submit a self-assessment tax return each year, and it does not impact the payment of taxes (so the deadlines outlined for Self-Assessment Personal Tax Returns above still apply).

For those taxpayers who do meet these criteria, and register for MTD for Income Tax in current 2026/27 and future tax years, then the following new submission deadlines for electronic MTD submissions will also apply:

• 6 April to 5 July: Deadline 7 August.
• 6 July to 5 October: Deadline 7 November.
• 6 October to 5 January: Deadline 7 February.
• 6 January to 5 April: Deadline 7 May.
• Final Declaration (End of Period Statement): 31 January following the end of the tax year.

With respect to late filing and late payment penalties.  The same outlined for Self-Assessment Personal Tax Returns above still will also apply for this tax year.

AFTER April 2027 the following new process will then apply:

Late Filing Penalties

Similar to VAT, under the new system, late submission penalties for income tax will work on a points-based system.  Each return that is submitted late will accrue a “penalty point”, until a 4-point threshold has been reached at which point you will be fined a £200 penalty for each late return.

Note – Penalties points for MTD for Income Tax and MTD for VAT are kept separate and NOT combined.

Points will automatically expire 24 months later.  Although, if the threshold has already been reached you can remove ALL points marginally quicker by satisfying BOTH of the following conditions:

• Submit all outstanding returns for the previous 24-month period.
• Complete a “period of compliance” (where you have submitted all returns on time) for 12 months.

Late Payment Penalties

Under the new system, you will start to receive late payment penalties if you do not pay your self-assessment within 15 days of the 31st January due date.

Note – Penalties will not apply to payments on account deadlines.

This will then increase (up to double of that paid previously), and a second set of daily penalties will also be applied if you have still not paid what is due within 30 days of the due date.  As follows:

Each penalty is applied in addition to the previous one.

3. COMPANIES HOUSE DEADLINES

For limited companies and limited liability partnerships the deadline for filing annual financial statements to Companies House is normally 9 months after the end of the accounting reference date (the company’s year-end date).

Late Filing Penalties

Note – The penalty will be DOUBLED if accounts are filed late in 2 successive financial years!

4. HMRC COMPRORATION TAX RETURN DEADLINES

For limited companies the deadline for paying Corporation Tax is normally 9 months after the end of the accounting reference date.  The deadline for filing a Corporation or Partnership Tax Return is normally 12 months after the end of the accounting reference date.  Note – Please be aware that the deadline for the payment if tax is therefore before the deadline for filing the tax return!

Late Filing Penalties

Each Penalty is applied in addition to the previous one.

Late Payment Interest

Interest is charged on the tax owing from the date it is due, including the amounts levied in charges, at a rate of 2.5% over the Bank of England base rate.

5. MAKING TAX DIGITAL (MTD) FOR VAT DEADLINES

For the majority of SME businesses VAT returns must be filed and paid quarterly, 1 calendar month and 7 days after the end of the VAT quarter concerned.  So as an example: If the VAT quarter ends on 31st March, then the deadline for filing the VAT return and making payment will be the 7th May.

Businesses with estimated turnover less than £1.35 million (for the next 12 months) are eligible to apply to join the VAT Annual Accounting Scheme.  Under this scheme they must submit a single annual VAT return 2 months after the end of the accounting reference date.  Estimated payments on account must also be made on either a monthly or quarterly basis, with a final balancing payment due at the same time as the annual filing deadline, as follows:

• Monthly – 10% Due at the end of months 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12
• Quarterly – 25% Due at the end of months 4, 7, and 10
• Final “balancing” payment – Within 2 months of month 12

Where a business who submits quarterly VAT returns has turnover which has exceeded £2.3 million in the last 12 months, then HMRC will normally write to them to request them to make more regular “payments on account”.  In these cases, HMRC will advise the value and frequency of the payments to be made.  But in practice this involves making payments (of 1/24 of the annual value) in the second and third months of each VAT quarter, with the balancing payment due at the same time as the quarterly return is filed.

Surcharges

The previous “surcharge system” was replaced on the 1st January 2023.

Late Filing Penalties

Under the new system, late submission penalties now work on a points-based system.  Each return that is submitted late will accrue a “penalty point” until the point threshold has been reached at which point you will be fined a £200 penalty for each late return.

Note – Per above penalties points for MTD for Income Tax and MTD for VAT are kept separate and NOT combined.

The penalty point threshold depends on the frequency by which you submit VAT returns as follows:

Points will automatically expire 24 months later.  Although, if the threshold has already been reached you can remove ALL points marginally quicker by satisfying BOTH of the following conditions:

• Submit all outstanding returns for the previous 24 month period.
• Complete a “period of compliance” (where you have submitted all returns on time) as follows:

Late Payment Penalties

You will start to receive late payment penalties if you do not pay VAT within 15 days of the due date.  This will then increase (up to double of that paid previously), and a second set of daily penalties will also be applied if you have still not paid what is due within 30 days of the due date.  As follows:

Each penalty is applied in addition to the previous one.

Interest is charged on the tax owing from the date it is due, including the amounts levied in charges, at a rate of 2.5% over the Bank of England base rate.

6. CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY SCHEME (CIS) DEADLINES

For contractors who employ other sub-contractors under the construction industry scheme the deadline for filing a return is normally 19 days after the end of each month, and the deadline for making associated payments is 22 days.

Late Filing Penalties

Each Penalty is applied in addition to the previous one.

Additional penalties may be applied if HMRC believes the taxpayer is intentionally withholding information or trying to evade tax.

Interest is charged on the tax owing from the date it is due, including the amounts levied in charges, at a rate of 2.5% over the Bank of England base rate.