A reasonable excuse is something that stopped you meeting a tax obligation for a valid reason (Image: Getty)
The government’s is looming and if you miss it you could end up paying a penalty fine.
The deadline applies to those who need to file a tax return with by January 31, 2025.
If you file your tax return for the tax year April 2023 to April 2024 after January 31 you will have to pay a penalty fine of £100, and if you have not filed it within three months of this date then this will increase.
Filing your can be done online and tax experts are urging anyone who thinks they may need to fill in a self assessment return to do so now.
Do I need to send in a tax return
Tax returns cover the previous tax year – so in this case April 6, 2023 to April 5, 2024. If any of the following applies to you, then you may need to fill one in:
- You were self-employed as a sole trader and earned more than £1,000 after taking off tax relief –
- You were a partner in a business partnership
- You earned more than £150,000, even if you were PAYE
- You paid Capital Gains Tax by selling an asset – shares, property etc, which increased in value
- you had to pay the
- You rented out a property
- You earned money via tips and commission, savings, investments and dividends and recieved a foreign income.
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The 10 way you might be exempt
will consider the following excuses as reasonable cause for not filing your return on time:
- A partner or close relative died shortly before the tax return or payment deadline
- You had an unexepcted stay in hospital
- You had a serious or life-threatening illness
- Your computer or software failed while you were preparing your online return
- You had ssues with HM Revenue and Customs online services
- A fire, flood or theft stopped you filing your tax return on time
- There were unpredicted delays in the post
- You were delayed by disability or mental illness
- You were unaware of or misunderstood your legal obligation
- You relied on someone else to send your return, and they did not.
Alice Haine, personal finance analyst at Bestinvest by Evelyn Partners, said most UK taxpayers do not need to file a tax return for the 2023-24 tax year because tax is automatically deducted from their wages, known as Pay-As-You-Earn, or PAYE, pensions or savings.
“For those who do not have tax automatically deducted, have earned extra untaxed income, such as from property, had a total taxable income of more than £150,000 or have another qualifying reason, then filing a tax return is mandatory.
“While the deadline to file a paper return is October 31, 2024, and an online tax return has a later deadline of January 31, 2025, getting the return in early can help keep a personal budget on track particularly if you have a large tax bill to pay. No one wants to be hit with a large tax bill in January, just weeks after the extra expense that comes with the festive period.”
Haine said anyone that suspects they may need to complete a tax return should log into their personal tax account to check. “Once the return is completed, you will know much tax you owe, whether you have outstanding payments to make and details of any fines for not paying on time.
“Take note as those who need to claim higher or additional tax relief on pension contributions, as well as subscriptions to schemes such as Venture Capital Trusts and Enterprise Investment Schemes must remember to do so on a tax return – even if they have no other need to complete one – as won’t ask them to.”