Raising the penalties for late filing could help to alleviate stress during the January rush experienced by tax accountants.
Accountants are all-too-well acquainted with the familiar rush to file tax information on time at the beginning of the year.
However, the former tax faculty chairman of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), Mark Lee, believes that increasing the late filing penalty to more than the existing £100 could help solve the problem.
Responding to a 'question of the week' posted by AccountingWeb, Mr Lee said that the January rush had been a problem for years. A bigger fine would incentivise clients to provide all tax return information on time, he said.
"I think everyone would behave differently if the potential penalty was higher," he said, but noted that "it's really down to the advisers to insist their clients send in all the information earlier and to charge them a higher fee if they don't meet the accountant's deadlines".
HM Revenue & Customs allows accountants and other individuals to file their returns online via Self-Assessment Online. The much-trumpeted system also automatically calculates your figures.
However, this year's January rush caused a glitch in the system on Monday (January 8th) and tax professionals had difficulty accessing the site properly.
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