HMRC urges 'quickly check' as people could lose out on £100

HM Revenue and Customs has warned people to make a "quick check" as not doing so could mean they lose out on £100 of their hard-earned cash. Millions of people are expected to file a self-assessment tax return for the financial year 2023/24.

These tax returns must be completed by January 31, 2025, and anyone who doesn't file theirs by then may be hit with a £100 penalty. And this is the case even if you don't owe any money to the taxman.

If you need to register for a self-assessment tax return, you should do this by Saturday, October 5. Some people may not realise they need to file a return, and now HMRC is urging people to check.

READ MORE: HMRC may owe people born between these dates more than £2,000

READ MORE: George at Asda's £24 hooded jacket is 'brilliant for autumn' and 'looks expensive'

In a new post on X, formerly Twitter, HMRC said: "Do you need to do a Self Assessment tax return? You can quickly check using our free online tool."

According to Gov.uk guidance, you must send a tax return if in the last year, April 6 2023 to April 5, 2024, you were self-employed and earned more than £1,000, were a partner in a business, had a total taxable income of more than £150,000, or had to pay Capital Gains Tax when you sold or "disposed of" something that increased in value. You'll also need to file a return if you had to pay the High Income Child Benefit Charge, and you may need to send one if you have any untaxed income such as money from renting out a property, tips and/or commission, income from savings, investments, and dividends, or foreign income.

HMRC said it "urges customers to file their return early to provide peace of mind and to also allow time to consider opportunities to spread the cost of their tax bill, claim refunds earlier and avoid costly errors caused by rushing."

If you miss the October 5 deadline to register, there is a possibility you may eventually be charged a penalty for failing to notify HMRC that you owe tax, according to the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group. This is called a "failure to notify" penalty and is calculated as a percentage of the tax that is owed.

If you notify HMRC late, you can usually avoid a failure to notify penalty if you can both file your 2023/24 tax return online and pay any income tax owed for the 2023/24 tax year by January 31. However, if you do not register for self-assessment, you're more likely to forget to file the return altogether - leading to a £100 fine, and potentially other penalties on top.