HM Revenue & Customs have confirmed that whilst the 31 October filing deadline for self assessment tax returns is statutory and remains unchanged, having a paper return stuck in a postal strike counts as a reasonable excuse under the guidelines.

Further information on the 31 October filing deadline may be found on paper self assessment tax returns, with further information on reasonable excuses to be found in HM Revenue & Customs’ leaflet SA355 ‘Penalties for a late tax return’: www.lexisurl.com/post.

The alternative for most taxpayers will be to file online, in which case the filing deadline is 31 January 2010.

Posted on 28 Oct 2009