HM Revenue & Customs said the penalties being issued this week will include the maximum £900 in daily penalties for non-filing as well as a further late-filing penalty of £300 or 5% of the tax due – whichever is higher.
The Revenue said the number of outstanding returns had “almost halved in 2012”, down to 5.9% of the total due from 10.7% in 2011. It added that this means there are 518,000 fewer penalties being issued.
Part of the reason more people have ensured they have filed on time may be due to the introduction of new penalties in April 2011 for anyone filing late.
Stephen Banyard, HMRC’s director general for personal tax, said: “We want the returns, not the penalties. This year, half a million more people have filed their return – which means we are issuing 44% fewer penalties.
“But, despite several reminders, nearly six per cent of people have not sent their 2010/11 tax returns to us and they’ll be getting a penalty.
“Where someone has a reasonable excuse for not sending a return on time, we will waive the penalty. We also recognise that there will be some people within this group who don’t need to be in Self Assessment, and we will be happy to remove them from the Self Assessment system and cancel their penalty.”
