So, what deadline is on 31 October?

So what exactly was important about yesterday (31 October 2009)?

Yesterday was an important day for any individuals that submit their income tax returns as a hard copy paper return rather than filing them online.

31 October 2009 was the deadline for submission of an individual’s paper income tax return for 2008/09. To be precise, the paper tax return should have reached HMRC by midnight on Saturday 31 October 2009 to avoid penalties.

If the paper returns are submitted late then there is an automatic penalty of £100 for late submission of returns.

What will be interesting this year however is the impact that the postal strikes have had. For those of you reading this outside of the UK who are not aware, there have been a number of days of industrial action by workers from the Royal Mail and this has resulted in postal delays. HMRC have stated that there will be no extension to the 31 October deadline. If however you can prove that the strike delayed your submission then you may be able to appeal the penalty.

Either way, the key thing to remember for your exam is that the deadline for submission of the paper returns is 31 October.

I’m sure that all F6 students are aware that the deadline for submitting an online return is after the paper return deadline. The deadline for submitting an online return for 2008/09 is 31 January 2010 and one thing is for sure and that is that if the online submission is late you are unlikely to be able to appeal against the late submission penalty on the basis of the postal strike!