Last week we reminded you that the deadline for filing your online share plan returns for 2016/17 was 6 July. On Friday, HMRC published a bulletin acknowledging that the annual returns online service had experienced technical issues which prevented some returns from being submitted.
As a result, HMRC have extended this year's deadline for filing annual returns to 24 August. The penalties for late filing will now be as follows:
- if an annual return is not filed by 24 August 2017, HMRC will issue an automatic late filing penalty of £100 - even if the return is just one day late;
- an additional penalty of £300 will be imposed if the return remains unfiled at three months from the original filing date of 6 July 2017;
- a further £300 will be payable if it is still outstanding at six months from the original filing date of 6 July 2017; and
- if a return has still not been filed nine months from 6 July 2017, HMRC can charge a daily penalty of £10.
Although HMRC have extended the deadline we would still encourage you to file your returns in good time. A link to the HMRC bulletin can be found HERE.
We would be happy to discuss your share plan filing requirements with you and answer any questions you may have about the process. Please do not hesitate to contact a member of the Travers Smith Employee Incentives Group.
