You could be fined £100 if you fail to do this before end of January

People are being urged to remember their self-assessment tax return this year or risk paying a £100 fine as the deadline draws near. Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has warned Brits that if you are self-employed or a high earner then the deadline for the self-assessment is on January 31, as per MyLondon.

2021/2022 tax year

The exact deadline to file your tax return to HMRC for the last tax year is 11.59 pm, Tuesday 31 January and the return needs to be done online as the deadline for paper tax returns has now passed.

You will need to submit a return if any of the following applies to you, as per Money Saving Expert:

• You were self-employed and your income was more than £1,000.
• Your income was more than £50,000, and you or your partner claimed child benefit.
• You earned more than £2,500 from renting out property, or from other untaxed income, such as tips or commission.
• You earned more than £100,000 in taxable income.
• You earned £10,000 or more before tax from savings, investments, shares or dividends.
• You earned income from abroad, or lived abroad and had a UK income.
• You need to pay capital gains tax.
• You received income from a trust.
• Your state pension was more than your personal allowance and was your only source of income (unless you started getting your pension on or after 6 April 2016).
• HMRC has told you that you didn't pay enough tax last year (and you haven't already paid up through your tax code or via voluntary payments).
• You filed a self-assessment tax return last year (even if you didn't owe any tax). You'll need to file again this year unless HMRC has already written to you to say you don't need to.

Penalties

If you miss the 31 January 2023 deadline, you will be charged a £100 penalty even if there's no tax due to be paid. Additional penalties of £10 a day are then applied after three months, up to a maximum of £900. A further penalty of 5% of the tax owed or £300 (whichever is greater) will then be imposed after 6 months and then repeated at 12 months.

The deadline to register for a self-assessment tax return was 5 October 2022 but you should be fine to register now, as long as you file the tax return before the deadline.

You can go online and the Government provides an online calculator to check if you're liable for any penalty fees and also a tool to check if you should be sending a self-assessment.

Sources used:

- MyLondon'Martin Lewis warns you could be hit with £100 fine if you fail to do one thing by January 31'

- Money Saving Expert 'Self-employed or a high earner? Don't miss the 31 January 2023 self-assessment tax return deadline - or you risk a £100 fine'