Late tax fees waived due to HMRC strike

HM Revenue & Customs is to waive its late filing penalty for those unable to access the Self Assessment helpline on 31 January due to the expected call centre strike.

The government department expects 600,000 people to submit their applications on the final deadline and 15% of those to call HMRC with a query regarding their return on the same day.

According to HMRC regulation, those who do not submit their tax returns by 31 January will recieve an automatic £100 fine. 

However, with a large majority of the department's call centre staff expected to strike on deadline day, those who write a letter explaining this as the reason for their delayed return will be provided with a refund.

A HMRC spokesperson told BusinessZone.co.uk: "We're hoping that the strike will be resolved but there's a good chance it may not be so we may not be able to provide the level of service we would like on the deadline day.

"Because these people are trying to do the right thing and because we can't provide them with the kind of support we should, we won't ask these people to pay a penalty. They'll have a reasonable excuse under the existing provisions."