Penalty for not telling HMRC?

So I used to be self employed for three years up to March this year. I didn't know I had to tell HMRC but I just found out I do. I only made around £200 or less altogether over the three years so I know I don't need to pay any taxes because you have to be earning £1100 or more but I'm really worried about the penalties. It's £100 for being 3 months late with tax returns so my first year of being self employed will be a lot and I'm so worried I won't be able to pay it all. I'm still waiting for a UTR number so I can file my tax returns. I plan on doing them as quickly as possible once I get the UTR number. This is really stressing me out. I never told my mum I was self employed either and still haven't, I'm worried she will have to pay a fine for not telling I was self employed. If she is fined, how much will it be?


Posted from TSR Mobile

So I used to be self employed for three years up to March this year. I didn't know I had to tell HMRC but I just found out I do. I only made around £200 or less altogether over the three years so I know I don't need to pay any taxes because you have to be earning £1100 or more but I'm really worried about the penalties. It's £100 for being 3 months late with tax returns so my first year of being self employed will be a lot and I'm so worried I won't be able to pay it all. I'm still waiting for a UTR number so I can file my tax returns. I plan on doing them as quickly as possible once I get the UTR number. This is really stressing me out. I never told my mum I was self employed either and still haven't, I'm worried she will have to pay a fine for not telling I was self employed. If she is fined, how much will it be?


Posted from TSR Mobile

OK - a couple of things.

Your mum is nothing to do with this. You alone are responsible for your tax affairs, and your mother has nothing to do with it, including any penalties HMRC may impose.

Regarding penalties, they are based now on a percentage on something called PLR - Potential Lost Revenue which is, in other words, the tax that was due but not declared or paid when it should have been. There is no PLR on the figures you quote, and thus no penalty to pay with respect to this. However, as you know, once you become self employed you have to tell HMRC and complete a tax return, even if there is no tax to pay. The penalty for failing to inform here is rather different, and you might face a penalty - however, given the very small sums involved and the fact that there is no tax to pay, I think you'll be OK with it.

https://www.gov.uk/self-assessment-tax-returns/penalties

There will be no penalty. This is not a late return as they never sent you a return to fill in. It is a failure to notify HMRC that you need to file a return. The penalties for this are calculated as a percentage of the tax due. No tax due, no penalty.

Even if there was tax due HMRC are very nice about unprompted disclosures of genuine mistakes so you would be fine anyway.

So I used to be self employed for three years up to March this year. I didn't know I had to tell HMRC but I just found out I do. I only made around £200 or less altogether over the three years so I know I don't need to pay any taxes because you have to be earning £1100 or more but I'm really worried about the penalties.

You’ll need to send a tax return if, in the last tax year:

I hope you are right but the people I've spoken to on the HMRC website keep saying there are penalties for missing the deadlines for tax returns. I told them my situation but still they said I could face penalties


Posted from TSR Mobile

I hope you are right but the people I've spoken to on the HMRC website keep saying there are penalties for missing the deadlines for tax returns. I told them my situation but still they said I could face penalties


Posted from TSR Mobile

So I used to be self employed for three years up to March this year. I didn't know I had to tell HMRC but I just found out I do. I only made around £200 or less altogether over the three years so I know I don't need to pay any taxes because you have to be earning £1100 or more but I'm really worried about the penalties. It's £100 for being 3 months late with tax returns so my first year of being self employed will be a lot and I'm so worried I won't be able to pay it all. I'm still waiting for a UTR number so I can file my tax returns. I plan on doing them as quickly as possible once I get the UTR number. This is really stressing me out. I never told my mum I was self employed either and still haven't, I'm worried she will have to pay a fine for not telling I was self employed. If she is fined, how much will it be?


Posted from TSR Mobile

most people would have just kept quiet.

A mere £200 quid

I can almost guarantee that would have gone under their radar

now you face giving back most of it in fines as well as paying the tax on it.

It should have been pretty obvious they didn't know about it when they never asked you to file Tax returns during the 3 years in which you were self employed.....

most people would have just kept quiet.

A mere £200 quid

I can almost guarantee that would have gone under their radar

now you face giving back most of it in fines as well as paying the tax on it.

It should have been pretty obvious they didn't know about it when they never asked you to file Tax returns during the 3 years in which you were self employed.....

there won't be any tax on it as you have to earn at least 1100 a year to pay taxes. I earned much less than that a year so I won't have to pay taxes. I could get a penalty though which is what I am worried about


Posted from TSR Mobile

there won't be any tax on it as you have to earn at least 1100 a year to pay taxes. I earned much less than that a year so I won't have to pay taxes. I could get a penalty though which is what I am worried about


Posted from TSR Mobile

yes, there won't be any tax on it because you didn't earn enough, but you were still supposed to file a tax return so they knew you didn't earn enough to pay tax on it. The fact that for 3 years running they never asked you to produce a tax return disclosing your income should have caused a cartoon styled exclamation mark to appear over your head and alerted you to the fact they had no clue you were working self employed.

Now by alerting them you risk possible fines of 3 years on the trot for not filing a tax return, plus any other fines they decide to lumber you with.

oh well................., at least you can say you did things by the book to try and comfort that empty purse....