News reports suggest self-employed and high earners in the firing line
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, is considering hiking the fines issued for the late submission of the Self Assessment tax return.
This is according to news reports, including from the Telegraph. In its coverage – published over the weekend – the paper suggests Reeves will “drastically increase” fines as a means of increasing tax revenues by the end of the decade.
The Chancellor also intends to continue a trend set in recent years at other fiscal events: increasing funding for HMRC. This will allow for more staff to collect more tax revenue, as well as “more third-party debt collectors” to enforce outstanding tax debts.
Late filing and payment fees to increase
The plans are unlikely to be well received by the self-employed, who make up the majority of taxpayers that must complete the Self Assessment, alongside PAYE earners with over £100,000 of income.
So, while the penalties are only issued in the event of late submission of the tax return or for late payments against outstanding tax bills, the self-employed are disproportionately affected by any increases.
All those who pay taxes through the ‘Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment’ scheme are affected. These changes will come into effect from April 2025 for VAT and 2026 for income tax.
According to the Telegraph, the fees paid for late submission will increase to 3% of the outstanding tax due after 15 days, from the current rate of 2%.
This will increase to 6% after 30 days (up from 4% currently). Under the new plans, from 31 days onwards, the chargeable rate increases to 10%. Late submissions – after the deadline of midnight on 31st January each year – will also attract an immediate fine of £100.
Millions in new funding for tax office
The government is also promising new funding for HMRC to help claw back unpaid taxes through third-party debt collection and a greater focus on tax compliance.
This is likely to be made up of £80m worth of new funding for debt collection, in the hopes it will translate into £1.3bn of revenue over the next five years.
HMRC will also be given licence to recruit an additional 600 staff into its debt management function, alongside £4m to fund a pilot programme for more effective tax debt recovery, based on learnings from the private sector.
Added to this, further £100m in new funding is expected to cover the recruitment of an additional 500 compliance officers from April 2025. These workers are expected to raise £141m of revenue, primarily from unpaid taxes.
Leave a Reply