Taxation

Self Assessment filing deadlines

The Self Assessment online service was partially disrupted on 31 January 2008. The service also ran slowly at times on 1 February 2008.
In response to those problems, HMRC announced that any return (whether online or paper) received by midnight 1 February 2008 would be treated as filed on time.

HMRC also explained that where users experienced problems with the SA service on 31 January 2008 or 1 February 2008, and were unable to file by midnight 1 February 2008, they would accept claims for “reasonable excuse” in the usual way. This means they will remove any late filing penalty and treat the return as filed on time where the problems with the HMRC service were the cause of the delay and the return was filed within a reasonable period afterwards.

Penalty notices for any returns not filed on time are issued automatically and are due to be dispatched on 22 February 2008. However, HMRC has now stopped the issue of penalty notices, and the extension of the enquiry window, for

• online returns filed using the HMRC software on 2 and 3 February 2008
• paper returns received in local offices by close of business on 4 February 2008 (in letterboxes in the morning or arriving by post or by hand during the day - following the Special Commissioners’ decision in Steeden v Carver).

In addition, where a return is filed within a reasonable period, and the delay was due to the problems with the HMRC service, they will also accept appeals on the ground of “reasonable excuse” and remove the penalty for online returns filed on 4 February 2008, or later, and paper returns filed on 5 February 2008, or later.

Following the Steeden v Carver decision, returns hand delivered during Monday 4 February should be treated as late but not incur a penalty because the taxpayer had a reasonable excuse throughout the “period of default”. However, HMRC has identified that it will not now be possible in some processing offices to distinguish between returns that were in their letter box when it was opened on Monday 4 February, returns that were delivered by post on that day and returns that were hand delivered.

In the circumstances, they are giving taxpayers the benefit of any doubt and, for this year, all paper returns delivered by close of business on 4 February will be treated as filed on time.