HMRC launches tax filing and payment deadline tool

HMRC launches tax filing and payment deadline tool

HMRC releases handy new online tool to allow taxpayers to check filing and payment deadlines and to add key dates to calendar apps for instant reminders.

This is a brand new HMRC tool, currently in beta stage, and can be used to check the deadlines for PAYE for employers, self-assessment, VAT and the construction industry scheme (CIS) for contractors, with the warning that the taxpayer must enter the correct information relating to their specific deadline request.

What this means is that the taxpayer has to enter the relevant information for the filing date they require and the tool will provide deadlines based on the information provided. They will also have the option to print the deadlines and add them to online calendars.

The deadlines can be added to most calendar applications on a computer, mobile phone or tablet, including Microsoft Outlook, and calendar apps on Google, Apple and Samsung, amongst others. It is worth noting that anyone using the tool on an iPhone or iPad will need to use Safari to add the deadlines to Apple Calendar.

To use the HMRC deadline tool, make sure to have details of accounting period start and end dates, current payment method used – BACS, online, via app, etc, and how returns are sent, i.e. online or by post.

The tool takes a few minutes to complete and produces the result with an .ics file link to the calendar app to import the event.

When the results appear, there is a caveat: ‘These deadlines are based on your answers. If your personal tax account, business tax account or HMRC letters show a different deadline, follow that instead.’

At the end of a session, users can delete the information themselves, and it is automatically deleted in any event by HMRC for security reasons and is not stored.