Post by pikestaff on Mar 23, 2015 18:24:40 GMT
'No respite from online taxman
PEOPLE who run their tax affairs with the Government’s new digital accounts will face steep fines if they do not keep them in order, it emerged last night.
The Government has promised to replace annual paper self-assessment tax returns with online accounts that work like bank accounts by spring next year. But workers and small businesses face a £100 fine for failing to get up-to-date information online by January 31 each year, even if no tax is owed.
Those who fail to hand over the information within the following six months could end up owing £1,600 in fines. Anyone who prefers to use the old paper method can still do so.'
My understanding of the proposal is that taxpayers will still be able to submit an annual return either on paper or online, as they do now. The digital account will be in addition to that, and (if it works) will take care of collection for the majority of taxpayers who have a source of income (either from employment or a pension) from which income tax is deducted via their tax code. I suspect that for anyone whose affairs are even slightly complicated it may not work, so lots of us will have to continue to submit annual returns - as will anybody who lacks such a source of income.
Incidentally, it is not clear to me whether p2p interest will, or will not, qualify to be paid gross. I've seen conflicting views on this.
