It has been announced that those who have yet to file their online tax return with HMRC for the 2014/15 tax year are being urged to do so by the end of this month.

There’s an additional £10 daily charge, this will be levied on taxpayers for 90 days if they failed to submit their return by the end of April 2016. However, the legal filing deadline for online self-assessment is on January 31. Those who fail to file their return by that date will be hit with a fixed penalty fee of £100 – if an individual has a return outstanding at the end of July, they will have accumulated fines of £1000, including the additional £10 per day penalty. It’s important to note, outstanding returns not filed to HMRC by 31 July 2016 will face a further penalty of at least £300.

Anthony Thomas, chairman of the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group, made the following statement:

“Importantly, the fines can be appealed against if you have a reasonable excuse for filing the return late. This might include situations such as prolonged ill-health, bereavement, or family breakdown – to give just a few examples.

He ended by adding, “we would strongly urge anyone with an overdue return to submit it as soon as possible; and to do so online as a paper return for 2014/15 will already attract the maximum £1,000 penalty. You can then appeal against the fines by writing to HMRC to explain why the return has been filed late.”