HMRC announced that the 5% late payment surcharge will not apply this year from 3 March and instead only arises from 1 April.
For this year only, the surcharge will only apply to any unpaid tax as at 1 April 2021. This is an important revision to the previous announcement extending the tax return filing deadline, as the concession did not previously extend to payment of the tax liability.
Also, if you are unable to pay your liability by 1 April, provided a Time to Pay Arrangement is in place at this date, no surcharge will apply.
It is important to note, however, that no changes have been made to the application of late payment interest, which is still charged at a rate of 2.6% on amounts unpaid from 1 February. This applies regardless of whether a payment plan has been entered into.
