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Deadline looms to submit paper tax return

Paloma Kubiak
Written By:
Paloma Kubiak
Posted:
Updated:
17/10/2018

If you’re planning to submit a paper tax return, you’ve got just two weeks left to do so.

The deadline to submit your paper tax return falls on Wednesday 31 October.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) must receive your return by this date, so you need to make sure you send it in good time to reach the taxman.

Technically, if HMRC receives your paperwork after this date, you should be fined £100. But you won’t receive the penalty if you meet the online deadline instead, which is 31 January 2019.

This is also the date by which you need to pay any tax owed, whether submitting by paper or online.

HMRC said 92.8% of people submitted an online self-assessment tax return last year, while 771,331 paper returns were submitted. This number has fallen from the 850,000 in 2016 and 1.1 million in 2015.

Last year, 9.9 million returns were filed online by the 31 January deadline, but nearly 746,000 people missed the deadline, leading to automatic £100 fines.

Related: See YourMoney.com’s Top tips to file your online tax return online for more information.