In addition to the late filing penalties for UK tax returns discussed on our separate blog post, any tax that remains owing to HM Revenue under the Self Assessment system can be expected to generate late payment penalties, as follows:
- Payment made more than 30 days late – 5% of the tax owing
- More than 6 months late – 5% of the tax owing
- More than 12 months late – 5% of the tax owing
Interest is also added to late paid tax at the prevailing rate.
If a taxpayer makes a time to pay agreement with HMRC the penalty is suspended, but the penalty will be resurrected if the agreement is broken.
The key to escaping penalties for the late payment of UK tax is clearly to pay on time!