Missed the Tax Deadline

Sean Rustrick • 17 March 2026

Late January can hit hard—especially if you suddenly realise you need to file a tax return but haven’t even told HMRC yet. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. This happens more often than you think, particularly if you’re a first-time filer or returning to Self Assessment after the Christmas break!


Usually, HMRC expects you to let them know you’re liable for Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax by 5 October following the end of the tax year. If you miss the 5 October deadline, you could face penalties, but if you act quickly you can significantly reduce them.


So, if it’s late January and you realise you’ve missed the notification deadline, the most important thing is to act immediately:


  1. Register for Self Assessment online as soon as you can.
  2. Work out your tax liability and pay it by 31 January. If you haven’t received your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) yet, you can still use your National Insurance number.
  3. Paying the tax you owe on time can reduce the risk of penalties, as HMRC will base fines on any ‘potential lost revenue.’


Any HMRC penalties will depend on:


  • How late your notification was
  • Whether your disclosure was prompted by HMRC or unprompted
  • Whether the failure was deliberate


The penalty will be 0% if the notification was unprompted and not deliberate, but it could be up to 100% of the tax due for “deliberate concealment”. You might avoid penalties entirely if you have a reasonable excuse, weren’t deliberately late, and notified HMRC without unnecessary delay!


Once you’re registered, submit your tax return as soon as possible to avoid more late filing penalties. Remember, the deadline is the 31st January after the tax year or three months after HMRC issues the notice.


If you’ve filed your tax return before, don’t create a new account. Doing so can delay processing and mess up your tax calculations. Instead, reactivate your existing Self Assessment record by calling the Agent Dedicated Line or completing form SA1.


If you have received a late tax return notification, don’t panic! Give Rustrick Accountants a call on 01622 738165 and the friendly team will sort it out for you and reduce the penalties by as much as possible

8 Weeks Left

by Sean Rustrick • 10 March 2026
Changes to Business Property Relief

Winter 2025 Newsletter

by Sean Rustrick • 15 January 2026
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Autumn 2025 Newsletter

by Sean Rustrick • 27 October 2025
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Reduce Tax on Residential Property Gains

by Sean Rustrick • 11 August 2025
If you sell a property for more than you paid for it, the difference is liable to Capital Gains Tax (CGT). In 2025/26, you will be liable to 18% CGT when your income and gains fall in the basic rate band. You will be charged up to 24% if it is over the basic rate band. This actually works out as you paying a mixed rate, i.e 18% and 24%, and the difference in these rates can reduce the CGT bill on the sale of assets. Before your CGT exemption is deducted from your gains, any capital losses you’ve made in the same year are deducted alongside any capital losses from earlier tax years (that you haven’t already used against gains). In addition, the first £3,000 of any capital gains you make in 2025/26 is exempt. Remember, this renews every tax year and is the allowance per person, so if the asset you’re selling is joint with your spouse, the exemption increases to £6,000. Before any sale, a married couple or civil partners can change the proportion of the property they own to double up on these annual exemptions, reduce tax rates and use available capital losses to minimize the tax payable on gains from property. This can get complicated, give the team at Rustrick Accountants a call today to chat through things on  01622 738165  and see if you can save today!

Director Shareholders Must Disclose Dividends

by Sean Rustrick • 4 August 2025
MRC is now demanding that small companies and their owners will have to report all income; not just a single total figure for all dividend income. If you receive dividends from a close company in your tax return for 2025/26, you must indicate whether you were a director of it at any point in the tax year and you must now provide the company’s full name and registration number. You must also disclose details of the director’s highest percentage of share capital held in the year. Directors are not limited to just those registered at Companies House, it also includes shadow directors and if you control more than 20% of the company’s ordinary share capital. From 6th April 2025, directors of close companies must make sure they are making detailed records of dividends, changes to the company’s shareholdings and the rights attaching to every class of issued shares. If these details aren’t accurate you may face a penalty of £60 for each error. If you have alphabet shares or if your class rights/shareholdings have changed, give us a call on  01622 738165  as this could complicate things.

Summer 2025 Newsletter

by Sean Rustrick • 1 August 2025
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HMRC Trap

by Sean Rustrick • 28 July 2025
Interest rates have risen and the personal savings allowance (PSA), the amount on which 0% tax applies to savings income, has frozen at £1,000 and £500 per tax year for basic rate and higher rates. If in 2023/24 you received interest exceeding the PSA, you don’t normally submit a self-assessment tax return, you haven’t received a P800, you should contact HMRC now to notify them you may owe tax. This also applies for 2024/25, but you have until 5th October 2025 to tell HMRC.

Trivial Benefits

by Sean Rustrick • 21 July 2025
A trivial benefit is something that costs the employer little, which they give to their employees as a perk of their job. A perk counts as trivial and is exempt from income tax and NI as long as it costs the employer no more than £50 and meets other conditions. This £50 includes both the price of the item/service and all the related costs. If a gift is shared by employees and you can’t work out the exact cost, you can use the average to determine if the exemption applies. It would not be counted as trivial (even if it is less than £50) if it is part of a salary sacrifice, paid in cash or a voucher that can be converted to cash, part of the employee’s contractual earnings or if it is in recognition for services performed as part of employment duties. The trivial benefits exemption exists to allow employers to reward employees tax and NI free and to reduce paperwork and admin for both employers and HMRC. So give us a call on  01622 738165  and let us help you today!

Accelerating Pension Relief

by Sean Rustrick • 14 July 2025
Did you know that contributing to a registered pension scheme qualifies for income tax relief? You can pay into a workplace pension or set up your own, but either way you will be entitled to relief dependent on the rate of income tax you pay. If you are a higher (40%) or additional (45%) rate taxpayer you can claim further income tax relief on personal pension contributions (this includes contributions to workplace pension that is deducted from your pay!). If you are not in self-assessment (only have PAYE income) you can claim this extra tax relief through HMRC’s new online form. You can access this by logging into the Government Gateway and then supply proof that you’ve paid contributions (your pension company can give you this). HMRC will then make an adjustment to your tax code so you receive the income tax relief. If you are registered for self-assessment, you can simply claim it on your tax return. Remember you will have to wait until the end of the year to do this! If you have PAYE income, you can get the tax relief faster by logging into your HMRC personal tax account and updating your tax code (remember to report the pension contributions on your tax return!). Not sure if you are entitled to the extra tax relief or how to get it? Give us a call on  01622 738165  and the team will help you out.

High Income Child Benefit Charge

by Sean Rustrick • 7 July 2025
High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) uses the income tax system to get back child benefits from couples when one or both of them have an annual income of over £60,000. HMRC has announced that from August 2025 if you pay tax through PAYE and are liable to HICBC you have to report it through a new online service. So if you were previously filling out a self-assessment form, ask HMRC to remove you from the self-assessment system and collect the HICBC from your PAYE income. This is a new system so there is a high risk of over or underpayments and will be under review for a period of time. Not sure how this will affect you? Give us a call on  01622 738165  and we can talk you through the change.