Most filings for HMRC and Companies House have statutory deadlines which incur penalties if not met.
As taxpayer / business owner meeting deadlines is your responsibility, as are penalties for non-compliance.
Whitefield Tax aim to help you meet these obligations. However where information such as bookkeeping and other records are provided to us late or incomplete, it becomes difficult and time consuming to meet these deadlines.
This policy sets out how we manage work flows against statutory deadlines, what clients can expect from us, and what we expect from clients.
This policy does not change our Terms of Business, which form the contract we have with clients, but helps to amplify and explain them.
Statutory Filing Deadlines and Deadlines to Us
The main deadlines are as follows:
| Type of Filing | Statutory Deadline | Deadline for information to us |
| Limited Company and LLP accounts*1 *2 | End of 9th Month after business year end | 6 months after business year end |
| CT600 Corporation Tax Return | 12 months after business year end | 6 months after business year end |
| Sole trader and Partnership accounts | 31 January after end of tax year with Self Assessment | 30 September after tax year end |
| Self Assessment | 31 January after end of tax year | 30 September after tax year end |
| Quarterly / monthly vat returns | Normally 7th day of second month, i.e. around five weeks | We will advise you of deadlines, but in the absence of advice 14th day after month end |
| Monthly Payroll | RTI return to be filed simultaneously with pay day | Where we provide bureau payroll services for you we will agree with you timescales and deadlines for payroll information flows on a bespoke basis. |
| *1 – Most of our limited company clients have 31 March year ends, so the filing deadline is normally 31 December at Companies House, in practice 22 December allowing for our Christmas close down. The deadline to us is 30 September.
*2 – The deadline may be shorter in the case of your first financial year |
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The most significant pressure points for us are as follows:
- Filing 31 March Company / LLP year ends with Companies House by 31 Due to our normal Christmas close down the deadline is, in practice, 22 December.
- Self Assessment filing by 31 January after tax year, including preparation of accounts for Sole Traders and Partnerships.
In both cases the deadline for this information to us is 30 September. This is set out in Section 22 of our Terms of Business which explains:
22 a – In order to meet statutory filing deadlines for business accounts, we require business books and records from you no later than:
– 30 September after tax year end (5 April) for partnerships / sole traders
– 6 months after year end for companies / LLPs (i.e. 30 September for 31 March year ends)
Where business books and records are received after the deadline:
– we will make every effort to complete accounts in time for statutory deadlines but cannot guarantee to do so
– if statutory deadlines are met then a supplementary fee will apply, which will be invoiced when the accounts are sent to you and subject to 14 day credit terms. The fee will be:
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- £100 plus vat where the accountancy fee is £500 ex vat or lower
- 20% of the contracted accountancy fee where the fee is over £500 ex vat
– if statutory deadlines are not met then the supplementary fee will not apply, and we accept no responsibility for penalties from HMRC / Companies House
22 b – In order to meet statutory filing deadlines for individual Self Assessment returns we require personal tax information from you no later than:
– 30 September after tax year end (5 April) in the form of a completed Self Assessment Questionnaire and any supporting paperwork
Where tax information is received after this deadline:
– we will make every effort to complete returns in time for statutory deadlines but cannot guarantee to do so
– if statutory deadlines are not met, we accept no responsibility for penalties from HMRC
Please be aware the deadline to us doesn’t prevent your letting us have information early, and we welcome this.
Completeness of Information
As well as provision of bookkeeping and records to us, we often need additional explanations, information and clarification where necessary, so to meet deadlines we require clients to respond promptly and proactively.
Where bookkeeping or records are not complete, or where other requested information is not provided promptly, then we will not be able to meet statutory deadlines even if the bookkeeping and records have been provided to us.
Self Assessment Questionnaire
In order to complete your Self-Assessment we ask you to complete a Self-Assessment Questionnaire, and the deadline is 30 September after the end of the tax year.
Where we do not have a Self-Assessment questionnaire from you, we will endeavour to complete your Self-Assessment with what information we have and draw to your attention the absence of the Questionnaire.
For the purposes of this policy all references to bookkeeping and records include the Self-Assessment Questionnaire and other information necessary for completing your Self-Assessment.
If we do not have the Questionnaire and/or other relevant information, then the same considerations regarding our meeting statutory deadlines apply as they do for business accountancy work.
Cloud Accounting Systems
Where we provide you with FreeAgent, or you have a cloud accounting system for which we have a login, please be aware that we need you to confirm completeness and accuracy of the entries and data before we start work on annual accounts and tax. This normally includes submission of a Year End Questionnaire to us.
To this end, even where we can login to your accounting system, or provide bookkeeping services to you, we do not consider that we have received your bookkeeping and records until we have these confirmations.
This is necessary because if we start work without such confirmations we may be working on out of date or incomplete data.
Clients are therefore asked to note they need to proactively confirm completeness of their bookkeeping and that accountancy work can start.
Late Presentation Fee
If bookkeeping and records are not provided to us within the deadlines set out in our Terms of Business, then for accountancy clients we will charge a Late Presentation Fee where the statutory deadlines are met.
If we cannot meet the statutory deadlines then the Late Presentation Fee will not be charged.
The Late Presentation Fee recognises the pressure which bookkeeping and records provided to us late puts on our staff team, and also the increased risks to us around errors and mistakes.
The Late Presentation Fee is:
- £100 plus vat where the accountancy fee is £500 ex vat or lower
- 20% of the contracted accountancy fee where the fee is over £500 ex vat
Staff have discretion to waive the Late Presentation Fee in appropriate circumstances.
We do not normally charge the Late Presentation Fee in your first year of service with us.
Prioritisation of Work in our Office
We will normally prioritise deadline work in our office, however this is subject to resources, the wellbeing of our staff and the needs of other clients.
We ask clients not to assume staff capacity exists for handling bookkeeping and records sent to us late.
Approval and Signature of Accounts and Returns
Once business accounts and returns are sent to you, we ask you to check them promptly and either approve them or raise any queries.
As filing deadlines draw near, we find ourselves spending a lot of time chasing clients for approvals, and with clients raising queries or questions on accounts or returns sent to them some time ago.
It is your responsibility to check accounts and returns promptly and approve them or raise any queries.
As deadlines draw near, we will not have time to address queries or amendments to accounts and returns which were issued some time ago. In these circumstances the filing will have to be held back in order to provide time for us to address queries, or amend accounts and returns, and you will be responsible for any penalties from HMRC or Companies House.
We cannot file accounts or returns without your approval, so where this approval is not provided in good time for us to make the submissions, you will be responsible for the ensuing penalties from HRMC or Companies House. In practice we need you to approve at least a week before the deadline, and in the case of filings due over the Christmas break, by 20th December.
Responsibility for Penalties
In normal circumstances the responsibility for penalties from HMRC or Companies House for late filing rests with yourself.
Where bookkeeping and records are provided to us in line with the timescales referred to in this policy, other information has been provided promptly afterwards, and approval has taken place promptly, then we will take responsibility for meeting the appropriate filing deadlines.
Prepayment of Accountancy Fees
The majority of our clients pay us by Direct Debit.
For clients who do not pay us by Direct Debit, we take a risk-based approach to Credit Control. Late presentation of bookkeeping and records is, from experience, a significant risk factor. This means as deadlines draw near:
- We may ask for payment or all or part of your accountancy fee before we start work
- We may ask for full settlement of your accountancy fee before we release accounts or returns for approval
- The above also applies to Late Presentation Fees for clients who pay us by Direct Debit
There may be other situations where we request payment in advance.
Reminders from Us
We take responsibility for drawing the relevant deadlines to your attention and sending appropriate reminders.
This will normally include:
- A one month pre year end letter for accountancy clients
- A year end letter for accountancy clients
- A request for the Self Assessment Questionnaire at the end of the tax year
- A reminder when the deadline for getting bookkeeping and information to us draws near
- Reminders at appropriate intervals if you have accounts or returns to approve in advance of a statutory deadline
- Reminders at appropriate intervals if you still need to provide us with bookkeeping or records and there is a statutory deadline
We do not have the capacity to chase clients repeatedly as deadlines approach, so ask clients to respond to reminders from us proactively.