Martin Lewis issues warning to anyone 'who's self-employed or high earner'
Martin Lewis and his Money Saving Expert team have issued a warning to anyone who is either "self-employed, high earner or parent with income of £50,000". The MSE team, founded by BBC and ITV star Mr Lewis, warned: "Don't miss the 31 January self-assessment tax return deadline."
You have until 11.59pm on Friday 31 January 2025 to send HMRC an online tax return for the 2023/2024 tax year, which ended on 5 April 2024. The same deadline also applies to those who need to make payments towards their tax bill, Mr Lewis said.
He said: "Tax return deadline is coming. It is at the end of the month, 31 January. So it's for the tax year 2023 to 2024. "I spoke to HMRC today. There were 5.4 million people who hadn't done it at the beginning of the month; there are still 3.8 million people who need to do it, who haven't done it [as of Tuesday 21 January. It was 3.4 million on Thursday 23 January, according to the latest available figures from HMRC]. That is a lot of people, people.
READ MORE: Next's 'feel good' £42 cardigan that comes in 'the most beautiful colour'
READ MORE: Martin Lewis warning over 'demon' household appliance costing £2 everytime it's turned on
READ MORE UK set for 13cm snow bomb with 'exact hour' flurries start announced
"So do not delay it. The phone lines get busier, it gets tougher, it gets more difficult if you have a problem. If you have a self-assessment tax return to do, get it done – it'll make your life easier. Now, the key rule is: who does it?
"Well, anyone who's been told by HMRC they need to do it, needs to do it. That's the first rule. But also if you're self-employed and they don't know, you're going to need to do one, a self-assessment return. If you've got over £10,000 in savings interest – that's a lot of interest – you need to do one. If you earn over £150,000, you need to do one.
"And if you earned over £50,000 in that tax year – remember the threshold is higher now, but this is for the 23/24 tax year - and you got Child Benefit, you need to do a self-assessment. So there are millions of people who don't need to do one. Don't panic, you know [...] But if you've been told to do it, you're in those categories. You need to get one in and you need to get it [in] soon.
"Now, if you miss the deadline, the fine is £100 plus possible penalties later on, and interest of 7.25% if you don't pay. Now, I'm not sure HMRC like me saying this, but I'm going to say it anyway. The best thing is get your form done, get it in and do it properly. But if you're going to struggle to get the form done and you've got a rough idea of how much tax you should pay, pay what you think you owe now. This is why. Let's say you pay £10,000 and your bill turns out to be £11,000. You're only charged the interest on the bit you didn't pay, not the bit you did pay.
"So getting some money in would reduce the interest charges that are going on what you have paid. But better still, just get your form in and do it properly. And if you're struggling to pay, speak to HMRC urgently."