We’re not like a lot of firms. We do some things differently. You’ve probably gathered that already. We’re also unique – as far as I can make out – in that we charge different amount for tax returns, based on how early people send us their figures.

When do we charge a late filing fee? 

We charge our clients a late filing fee, if the bulk of their tax information isn’t received by 30th September each year. That doubles if we’ve still not seen hide nor hair from you by Christmas Day.

We’re not trying to be sneaky or trick you into paying more money. We just want to be able to do our jobs effectively and efficiently.

We don’t want to have our team sat around doing nothing for six months and then scramble to do a year’s worth of tax returns in three months. That would be stressful for us, and it would probably mean that we wouldn’t be able to give you the best possible service.

(Or, it would mean having twice as many staff here ready for “busy season” which, in turn, means a hike in everyone’s bills. Which isn’t fair to the early birds.)

It also means – and I speak from bitter experience here – pulling 14 hour days in December and January to avoid your clients getting penalties from HMRC. 

We also want to give YOU as much notice of your tax liabilities as possible. Remember: the payment deadline of 31st January is fixed – submit your return in July, and you’ve got 6 months to budget.

Oh, and if you’re due a refund, this will be processed as soon as the return is filed. 💷

That’s why we ask you to send in your information by September 30th at the latest, or earlier if possible.

If you do miss the deadline, we will still be happy to prepare your tax return. However, we may need to charge you a late filing fee of £150 if you send it in after September 30th, or £300 if you send it in after Christmas.

When DON’T we charge it?

Firstly, we never charge this in the first year of working with a new client. Partly because the process of getting the required information from their old accountant, and getting authorisation with HMRC, can be time-consuming, and entirely outside the control of the client.

In addition, we see it as our job to help clients “get straight” going forward, making it easier for them to record transactions, collate information etc. It may be that the “old” stuff is a total mess, and we don’t have a time machine to change that.

And, we don’t want to penalise people who, having filed their tax return themselves at the 11th hour every year, finally take the plunge and engage a professional.

We salute you!! 🫡

Secondly, if you’re still waiting for that one last document which you’ve requested – perhaps an interest statement from your bank, or an NHS Pensions Statement – we aren’t going to be charging anyone a fee for something which is outside of their control.

Because we can at least go ahead and prepare 90% of your tax return, give you a steer on the numbers, and finalise that 10% as soon as we’re able. Happy days.

If you do miss the deadline

First off, we want to do everything we can to help you collate your figures. Just give us a call if there’s something you’re struggling with. Especially if it’s documentation from HMRC – we (might) be able to access it directly from them for you. Just ask.

Or, perhaps it’s time to engage a professional bookkeeper to help keep your records up to date each month. We don’t do bookkeeping ourselves, but we know some awesome people locally who do. And we’ll work directly with them, saving you even more time to do what you do best.

But, hey, if we’ve done our best and – in the case of a couple of our clients – it’s always a case of “Peter, I promise you’ll have my information next week”… every time we call!!… then I’ll be open with you about it, so you know where you stand.

It’s rare we have to charge anyone a late fee because – frankly – anyone who’s a serial “January” filer is not going to want to join Team Penguin. And that’s probably for best, for both of us.

How many people pay the late fee?

I said at the start that I don’t want to charge this to anyone, ever. We work hard throughout tax season, writing and calling clients who haven’t been forthcoming – and we’re very sympathetic for genuine life events.

Because sometimes there’s things out of your control. We get it.

Last tax season, we charged just TWO clients the £150, and NOBODY paid us the £300 post-Xmas fee.

Are we still a match?

I hope so. There’s six months – half a year!! – between April and September, so this should be more than enough time for anyone to collate their figures. To put that into perspective, by September you’ll already have the following to hand:

– P60 (end of May)

– P11d (5th July)

– VAT quarter ended March (7th May)

… and so on. You get the picture.

If you’re in the “reasonably organised but know I need an accountant” camp, then use the Contact button to get in touch and let’s see what we can do for you ↘️