Web delays prompt HMRC leniency

HMRC extended the deadline to midnight on Friday

People who have filed self-assessment tax returns over the weekend will not be fined, said HM Revenue and Customs.

Those who filed online or who posted paperwork at tax offices on Saturday or Sunday will be spared the £100 penalty.

The decision comes after the HMRC website suffered from a breakdown and people complained that they were unable to complete the process online.

Figures from the HMRC reveal that 5,851 people filed online on Saturday and 1,337 completed the process on Sunday.

Some 204,000 returns were submitted on Thursday, but others were unable to access the website as the original deadline of midnight loomed.

The breakdown of the website led to the HMRC extending the deadline by a day to midnight on Friday.

Automatic penalty

While 42,696 were able to complete the process on Friday, the BBC received numerous emails from others still struggling to access the system.

Those who filed over the weekend faced an automatic £100 fine plus interest on any tax due but the HMRC announced on Monday that they too would be spared the fine.

Those people whose paperwork was in the letterboxes of tax offices on Monday morning would also be free from the penalty.

A HMRC spokesman said they were not trying to catch people out. He added that only a minority of people had faced problems filing online.

Call for incentives

Tax consultant Adrian Huston, a Belfast-based former tax inspector, said the website had frozen on Friday when he was simply trying to view a client's records.

He called on the HMRC to invest heavily in the IT system as it was "human nature" for people to leave filing until the last minute.

"The Revenue are told every year about this. It was not a horrendous number of people trying to file online," he said.

"The only other thing they can do is offer people an incentive to file earlier."

He suggested a £50 sweetener to file days before the deadline might prevent the last-minute rush.