In case any umbrella company contractors have forgotten to file their income tax self-assessment form for the year ending April 2011, the deadline is tomorrow, January 31st!
HMRC expects as many as 600,000 people will leave things until the last minute and submit their return on deadline day. Around 90,000 taxpayers will realise they have a query tomorrow and attempt to phone the Revenue’s contact centre for advice.
However, this year a large proportion of call centre staff are expected to take part in strike action initiated by the Public and Commercial Services Union. HMRC has now said that if the strike is not averted, it will expunge any fines imposed on people who cite the strike as a reason for filing their return late.
A spokesperson for the Revenue confirmed that the department was hoping to resolve the situation in advance, but said there was a good chance that would not happen. HMRC would therefore be unable to provide the service it would like tomorrow.
He said HMRC acknowledged that if people were trying to follow the rules, but can’t get the support they need, they would not be asked to pay an income tax penalty. Under current provisions their case would class as ‘reasonable excuse’.
Last year there was a rash of reasonable excuse tribunal cases and in some cases taxpayers had multiple late filing penalties quashed. In one case, Dental IT won an appeal after receiving misleading advice from HMRC’s VAT helpline. However, this is the first time the Revenue has said the inability to contact the helpline would be classed as a valid excuse.
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Image: Helen Martinez and her children by heel Center, Cornell University
