For immediate release – 21st January 2008

·        The January 31^st tax deadline is now only 10 days away....

·        Fines may total £463 million this year

·        Over 850,000 forms submitted late in 2006 (12% fewer than 2005) but consumers can still do more to take TaxAction

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

Taxpayers are set to gift the taxman an unnecessary £463 million this year in fines generated by late returns, miscalculations and surcharges on unpaid tax*, according to research by Unbiased.co.uk, the website promoting the benefits of independent financial advice. The research also reveals the good news that this amount has dropped by £26 million on estimations for last year.

Failure to get forms to Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) by the fast-approaching January 31^st 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 rules on self-assessment forms remain unforgiving towards those who return their forms late or incorrectly, so now is the time to take action!  Missing the HMRC’s deadlines inevitably results in monetary penalties, so we would urge consumers to avoid these fines by ensuring that their forms arrive on time and in order. Remember that expert help is always at hand, in the shape of an IFA, to help you deal with your tax return.”

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

·  £89 million in fines for forms returned past the January 31^st deadline

·  £302 million through fines for mis-calculations made on tax forms

·  £72 million in surcharges for unpaid tax from previous years.

In 2006, it was estimated that 876,000 self-assessment forms were received after the January 31^st deadline.  Of these, the vast majority incurred a penalty of £100, and many more were subject to further surcharges. This represents a drop of 12% on 2005, which shows that consumers are making a good headway at taking TaxAction and reducing the amount of tax they pay.

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 Unbiased.co.uk.  With detailed research enquiries call Paul Hersey, RAKM, on 01737 216 940.

For further information please contact:

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 22,000 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 28 leading financial institutions, and in the past 12 months, over 575,000 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

Registered Office: IFA Promotion Ltd, 90 St. Vincent Street, Glasgow G2 5UB. Registered in Scotland: No. 114606

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