Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department has had with professional accountancy bodies on the health implications for accountants and other allied professions in meeting HMRC deadlines for tax returns.

This question was answered on 28th January 2021

The Government understands the considerable pressures that the accountancy and other allied professions have been under in the past year, and that they have helped deliver the economic response to the pandemic, while at the same time suffering the effects of the pandemic on their own firms. The Government is very grateful to them for their valuable work.

HMRC have had constructive engagement with the professional bodies representing tax agents, and Jim Harra, HMRC’s First Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive, has personally written to them in response to their letters drawing his attention to the pressures their members are under.

HMRC are encouraging as many people as possible to file on time, even if they cannot pay their tax in full straight away, but they have also announced on 25 January that Self-Assessment taxpayers who file online by 28 February will not receive a late filing penalty.

Not charging late filing penalties for late filed Self-Assessment returns submitted online in February will give both taxpayers and accountants breathing space to complete and file their returns without the added worry of receiving a penalty.