Contractors should not be penalised for the postal strike
22 October 2009
Posted by Jim Ottewill
Self-employed contractors and consultants should not be fined for missing the tax assessment deadline due to the postal strike, a professional body has claimed.
According to the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) and Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT), all paper returns arriving within a week of the October 31st deadline should be treated as if they arrived on time.
Andrew Hubbard CIOT president and ATT president David Stedman have both written to Dave Hartnett, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) director general, to urge the authority take this stance towards late returns.
Mr Hubbard said: "HMRC have said that anyone whose tax return misses the deadline due to the strike should not have to pay the hundred pound fine as they can appeal and have the penalty cancelled. That is welcome.
"Given the chaos likely to hit the postal service over the next few days it would be much more sensible, and less bureaucratic all round, simply to treat all returns which arrive up to a week late as having arrived on time."
The deadline for the completion of online returns is January 31st.