At the end of December only a little over a half of you had submitted your 2025 income tax returns. 5.65 million were still to file but there is usually about 1 million that are late every year. The late filing penalties are a nice little earner for HMRC!

The tip for this week must be to get your tax return submitted by 31 January if you have not done that already. Your 2025 tax returns must be filed by 31 January in order to avoid incurring penalties.

If your personal returns are late, you will incur the following penalties:

• an initial £100 penalty
• after 3 months, additional daily penalties of £10 per day, up to a maximum of £900
• after 6 months, a further penalty of 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater
• after 12 months, another 5% or £300 charge, whichever is greater

In addition each partner in a partnership will incur a similar penalty if the partnership return is late.

So, if you don’t want to incur late filing penalties and the wrath of HMRC, get your return submitted.