30 January 2007

Late returns, errors and unpaid tax will cost taxpayers £487 million this year, says unbiased.co.uk

Call 0800 085 3250 or visit www.unbiased.co.uk/taketaxaction  and get an IFA to help sort out your financial position

Despite continuing charges for those who submit late self-assessment forms, research from Unbiased.co.uk, the website promoting the benefits of independent financial advice, estimates that taxpayers are set to gift the taxman an unnecessary £487 million this year in fines generated by late returns, miscalculations and surcharges on unpaid tax* - £69 million more than estimations for last year.

Failure to get forms to the revenue by the fast-approaching January 31st deadline will incur an initial £100 late payment charge, as well as a hefty additional £60 a day fine. If the return is still overdue in July, a supplementary penalty of £100 will be added additional to the daily charges. Furthermore, a penalty of up to £3,000 may be charged for each year in which inadequate records are kept.

David Elms, Chief Executive of Unbiased.co.uk, said, “The taxman is unforgiving towards those who don’t send returns back promptly, so if you’ve received self-assessment forms from the Revenue and haven’t done anything about it, now is the time!  Everyone who misses the January 31st deadline is fined £100, so why waste this sum and potentially much more, when expert help is at hand, in the shape of an IFA, to ensure your forms arrive on time and in order?”

Unbiased.co.uk’s research calculates that money will be wasted in the following three ways:

  • £100 million in fines for forms returned past the January 31st deadline
  • £319 million through fines for mis-calculations made on tax forms
  • £68 million in surcharges for unpaid tax from previous years.

 

In 2005, it was estimated that a staggering 998,000 self-assessment forms were received after the January 31st deadline.  Of these, the vast majority incurred a penalty of £100, and many more were subject to further surcharges.

Elms concluded, “For tax advice see an accountant, but to ensure all your financial information is in order and that you’re being as tax-efficient with your personal finances as possible, see an independent financial adviser.”

To help people take control of their finances Unbiased.co.uk offers an online guide to reducing tax waste as well as tips to reducing tax waste and an online tax wastage calculator.  For online information and details of local IFAs, visit www.unbiased.co.uk/taketaxaction or alternatively call the hotline on 0800 085 3250

-ends-

* All figures provided by independent research agency, RAKM, for IFA Promotion.  With detailed research enquiries call Paul Hersey, RAKM, on 01737 216 940.

For further information please contact:

David Elms

Kate Horne/Jonathon Grove

Chief Executive

Lansons Communications

Unbiased.co.uk

020 7294 3716 / 020 7294 3653

020 7833 3131

 

For expert comment or case studies from over 200 media-friendly IFAs, journalists should call unbiased.co.uk’s Media Services hotline on 020 7294 3682 or search online at www.unbiased.co.uk/media

1.      Independent Financial Adviser Promotion

Unbiased.co.uk is the consumer brand of IFA Promotion, the organisation established in 1989 to promote the value and accessibility of independent financial advice to the public. It represents around 9,000 firms of independent financial advisers across the UK, incorporating over 17,000 registered individuals. These individuals hold over 20,000 incremental qualifications which are each individually verified by the awarding body. IFA Promotion welcomes the prominent display of incremental qualifications and further developments into the credentials of independent financial advice.  

IFA Promotion is sponsored by 31 leading financial institutions, and in the past 12 months, over 600,000 consumers and businesses used unbiased.co.uk to find local independent financial advice.

IFA Promotion believes Independent financial advice should be:

·         Affordable. The option to take independent financial advice should be available, by right, to all- not just the wealthiest in society.

·         Convenient. IFAs should be available in the location of the consumer’s choice, wherever they live in the UK.

·         Transparent. It must be clearly transparent to consumers who is able to offer independent financial advice and who is not.

2.      Independent Financial Adviser Promotion’s sponsors

Aberdeen Asset Management

London Mortgage Company

Abbey

Lincoln Financial Group

AEGON Scottish Equitable Plc

Mortgage Express

Alliance Trust

National Savings & Investments

AXA Life

NatWest Business Banking

Bright Grey

New Star Investment Funds

BUPA Health Services

Norwich Union Life

Canada Life Ltd

Prudential

The Children’s Mutual

Scottish Life

Clerical Medical Investment

Scottish Life International

Defaqto

Scottish Widows Plc

Friends Provident

Skandia UK Group

GE Life

Standard Life Assurance Company

INVESCO Fund Managers Ltd

UnumProvident

Legal & General

Webline Limited

 

Zurich Intermediary Group

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