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Will Moira Stuart manage to persuade people to get their income tax returns in by the 31 January deadline? According to HM Customs & Revenue, around 3 million people have already filed, but those who fail to heed Moira's calls will face a £100 fine plus, potentially, additional surcharges.
If you have not registered to file online, you need to move fast. Today is the last day to register in order for your pin code to be sent to you in time to meet the deadline. Once you've got that you can start filling in your online form. It sounds daunting, but if you follow our tips it could all be over in just 20 minutes.
If you are likely to struggle to meet your tax bill, you are not alone. According to the National Audit Office, 1.5 million working adults had a tax debt in April 2008, and growing numbers are expected to struggle to pay their tax bills this year. Before you panic, make sure you have taken advantage of the perfectly legitimate things you can do to bring down your bill. Transport costs and parking fees qualify as tax-deductable expenses, and if you work from home you may be able to claim part of your household bills back too.
Paying late could land you with a 10% surcharge on the tax you owe. But, according to accountants Dixon Wilson, you may be able to negotiate with the Revenue to avoid penalties. "Taxpayers are often wary of approaching the Revenue, but simply paying tax late without negotiating a payment schedule is about the worst option, as it invariably means paying surcharges," says James Kidgell, a partner at the firm.
If you were planning to pay your tax for 2007/08 through your new PAYE code for 2009/10, you may be in for a surprise. The online forms included a box to tick to take this option until today, but the Revenue has now admitted that this should have been removed before 30 December 2008. A spokeswoman said the Revenue was "investigating" what would happen to people who had chosen the option since that date.
And if feel you need a few more hours grace before you finally send your figures in, you can always hope for a repeat of last year's IT issues when the website crashed, leaving more than 100,000 last-minute taxpayers unable to file, which forced the Revenue to extend the deadline by 24 hours.
So will you meet the deadline? Or are you going to struggle to pay your tax this year?
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