More than two million people missed the self-assessment tax return deadline on 31 January 2022, according to HMRC.
The tax authority said more than 10.2 million returns were filed ahead of the original deadline. This has left around 2.3 million still to file.
Late-filers had until 28 February 2022 to file their 2020/21 tax returns online before being fined. This was due to pressures ensuing from the pandemic.
However, interest on outstanding tax bills is accruing at 3%. In addition to this HMRC’s late-filing penalties regime kicks in as usual from 1 March 2022.
Late-paying taxpayers have until 1 April 2022 to pay their tax bills in full or set up a time-to-pay arrangement.
These arrangements spread the cost of repaying tax bills of up to £30,000 into manageable monthly instalments, usually over a period of up to 12 months.
A 5% late-payment penalty will be charged if tax is not paid or a payment plan has not been set up by midnight on 1 April 2022.
Myrtle Lloyd, director-general for customer services at HMRC, said:
“I’d like to thank the millions of customers and agents who sent us their tax returns and paid in time for January’s deadline.
“Customers can set up a monthly payment plan online if they’re worried about paying their tax bill.”
More than 10.2m people filed their 2020/21 tax returns on time, down from 10.7m last year.
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