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Registrar of Companies - Company Accounts
Companies have deadlines for filing Accounts based on an Accounting
Reference Date recorded at Companies House. Public companies (names ending plc)
have 7 months, Private companies (names ending Ltd) have 10 months, but be aware
that Companies House consider 10 months from say 28 February is 28 December,
and not 31 December as you might imagine. Accounts have to be received
at Companies House and no allowance is made for weekends and public holidays.
H.M. Customs & Excise - VAT Returns
A VAT Return and any associated payment is due to be received by Customs &
Excise within 1 month of the date of the Return. In a letter from VAT
Control Division C, published in The Tax Journal on 21 March
1991, Customs & Excise stated that a Return (and cheque payment),
either in the official reply paid envelope or otherwise by first class post,
will be treated as delivered on the following working day, and that where the
due date falls at the weekend or a Bank Holiday the next working day will be
treated as on time.
The Customs & Excise News Release 21/2000 issued 23 May 2000, also explained an extra seven days of grace, for both the Return and payment of tax - where the tax is paid by Giro, BACS or CHAPS. Note that the Giro and BACS systems take several days in the banking system, but a CHAPS transfer offers a same day service and may sometimes be worthwhile.
Inland Revenue - Returns and payments generally
Subject to ESC B46, and some Revenue practices, the basic rule is that a
Return will count as late if it is not received by the last working day of the
filing period, and no allowance is given for weekends or public holidays.
Revenue practices generally give some days of grace (published annually) for
forms P35 and personal Tax Returns.
In general, interest is charged from the day following the due date, even if that is not a business day. In Issue 2 of Working Together (July 2000), the Revenue indicated that a cheque, posted to the Accounts or Collection Office and received the day following a weekend or public holiday would be counted as received on the first day the Office had been closed. Where payment is made by Giro, the payment is treated as made the day the taxpayer made the payment at the bank or Post Office. Payments by BACS and CHAPS are treated as made one day before they are received by the Inland Revenue.
Inland Revenue - Corporation Tax
Broadly, interest runs after 9 months from the Accounting Period End, but the
CT600 Return is not late until 12 months after the year end.
Inland Revenue - PAYE, P35, P11d etc
PAYE and NIC payments are due by the 19th of each month for deductions etc. made
up to the 5th of that month. Interest runs from the 19 April for all
amounts due in the tax year to 5 April, and the Revenue have indicated that
interest will be charged on monthly remittances at some stage.
Form P35 is due to be filed by the 19 May. As this is a Monday, it is the technical last day for filing in 2003, but under ESC B46 the absolute deadline for 2003 is Monday 26 May.
Forms P11d, P9d and P11d(b) are due to be filed by the 6 July. As this is a Sunday in 2003, the effective last day for filing for 2003 is the Friday 4 July. Employees must be given copies or summaries by the 6 July.
Class 1a NIC, reported on forms P11d is due for payment by 19 July.
For 2001 only there was 'period of grace' for submission of forms P11d etc. to the 19 September 2001.Inland Revenue - PSA
The tax due under a PAYE Settlement Agreement is due to be paid by 19
October.
Inland Revenue - IR35
A Personal Service Company must file its P35by the 19 May including amounts
due on deemed payments. The Inland Revenue's
IR35 Penalty Statement for
2001 has been extended to 2002. This means no penalty will be sought for
an incorrect P35 Return provided -
Inland Revenue - Self Assessment Partnership and Personal Tax Returns
31 January is the deadline for submitting a Self Assessment Tax Return if calculating
your own tax bill. The Inland Revenue have announced the actual effect of
late filing each year. In recent years this has allowed an extra day when
the Return is logged as filed late, but no penalty has been applied.
30 September is not a deadline for filing a Tax Return, but if a Tax Return is submitted by the 30 September, the Inland Revenue will guarantee to calculate the tax liability due by following the 31 January payment deadline. In reality they process most Returns quite quickly so this date is not important, and because a significant number of Returns are not correctly processed, we would not advise relying on the Revenue to calculate your tax bill. The 30 September filing date is important if you otherwise qualify and wish an under payment of tax up to £2,000 to be adjusted through your code number.
Anyone who has not received a Self Assessment Return (or an equivalent Notice to Complete a Self assessment Return) and who has a (probably new) source of income to be reported for the previous year to 5 April, must notify the Revenue and request a form by 5 October. As this is a Sunday in 2003, the effective deadline is Friday 3 October.Inland Revenue - Self Assessment Penalties
The penalties for late filing are £100 per Personal Return, and £100 per
Partner for Partnership Returns. The penalty for Personal Returns is
capped at the tax outstanding, therefore making a suitable tax payment before 31 January can be a means of getting the late filing penalty cancelled when
the Return is finally submitted. As no tax is due on a Partnership Return,
this does not apply to Partnership Returns.
As well as interest running, a 5% penalty is applied to tax unpaid at 28 February. A further 5% penalty will be applied on any tax unpaid at 31 July, and if the Return is still outstanding the late filing penalties double to £200.
The Inland Revenue can also impose a further penalty of £60 per Return per day with the agreement of the Commissioners for persistently late Returns. Unlike the automatic £100 penalty, these daily penalties will not be reduced even if you owe no tax. You can appeal against the penalties if you have a 'reasonable excuse' but otherwise the only way to stop the penalties is to submit your Return. If you still have a 1997 and later Returns outstanding (and there are some) the penalty could be £300 per day. Pilots in spring 2002 imposing the penalties were very successful and are being extended.
Pension Contributions
31 January is the last day it is possible to pay a pension contribution
and elect (at the time of payment or before) that the contribution be treated as
paid in the previous tax year.
Reminder - disclaimer applies. Please feedback your comments. This page was last modified 4 February 2003.