With just one week to go, over three million customers are yet to submit their completed Self Assessment tax return and pay any tax owed ahead of the deadline on 31 January. With impending fines being issued in February, HMRC has sent a warning to these customers today (24th January).

HMRC is strongly advising the millions of customers still to file their tax return, pay any outstanding liabilities or set up a payment plan, to do so ahead of the deadline as interest will be applied to all outstanding balances from 1 February. A full list of the payment methods taxpayers can use to pay their Self Assessment tax bill is available on GOV.UK.

Those who miss the deadline could face an initial £100 fine followed by further penalties.

People who are unable to pay what they owe in full may be able to set up a payment plan, allowing them to spread the cost over monthly instalments.

Additionally, HMRC is warning of high numbers of fraudsters currently emailing, calling or texting people claiming to be from the department. If in doubt, HMRC advises not to reply directly to anything suspicious, but to contact them straight away and to search GOV.UK for ‘HMRC scams’.