HMRC will earn at least £100million in late penalty charges after an estimated 1million people failed to submit tax returns in time for the 31 January 2026 deadline. HMRC issues penalty charges even if no tax is owed but you are registered for Self Assessment. Last year, 1.1 million faced penalty charges for missing the deadline. The £100million figure is likely to further increase as late filers also face daily penalties and interest charges in February. HMRC said 11.48million people did file their tax returns by the deadline.

Source: Daily Mail February 03, 2026 14:56 UTC