Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to extend the tax return deadline to support (a) SMEs and (b) small accountancy practices during the January 2021 covid-19 lockdown period.

The Government has carefully considered the arguments for extending the Self-Assessment filing date from 31 January but presently has no plans to extend that deadline.

The Government encourages as many people as possible to file on time even if they cannot pay their tax straight away. Only by filing a Self-Assessment return will taxpayers and their agents be able to determine the tax due for 2019/20 and the amount of any payments on account for 2020/21.

The Government recognises that some taxpayers will have difficulty submitting their Self-Assessment return due to the impact that COVID-19 has had on their personal or business circumstances.

HMRC do not charge penalties for failure to submit a return on time where taxpayers have a reasonable excuse. HMRC’s guidance explains that they will accept the impact of COVID-19 as a reasonable excuse for submitting a return late, provided that taxpayers explain how they were affected and submit the return as soon as they can. More information is available in the HMRC online guidance covering the reasonable excuse provisions.