If you're a UK-based freelance developer and you haven't filed your 2024/25 self-assessment tax return yet, this post is for you.
As of 1 March 2026, HMRC started charging £10 per day on top of the £100 initial late filing penalty. That's on top of the £100 you already owe.
Today is 13 March. That's 13 days of daily penalties. You currently owe £230 in filing penalties alone — and it goes up another £10 tomorrow.
The penalty timeline
| When | What | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Feb 2026 | £100 automatic penalty | £100 |
| 1 Mar 2026 | £10/day starts | £100 + £10/day |
| Today (13 Mar) | 13 days × £10 | £230 |
| 31 May 2026 | Daily penalties cap (90 days) | £1,000 |
| 1 Aug 2026 | 6-month penalty | £1,300+ |
These are filing penalties only. If you also owe tax, there are separate late payment penalties plus interest.
How to stop it right now
File your return today. That's it. Filing stops the daily penalties on the day you submit.
"But I don't have all my figures" — that's not a reason to wait. HMRC explicitly lets you file with estimates and amend later. An estimated return stops the clock.
Quick steps:
- Log in to Government Gateway
- Go to Self Assessment → Complete your tax return
- Enter your total income (check your bank statements)
- Enter your business expenses (conservative estimate is fine)
- Submit. Save the confirmation reference.
- Pay what you can — or set up a Time to Pay plan
Expenses you're probably forgetting to claim
As a freelance dev, you likely have more allowable expenses than you think:
- Home office — HMRC simplified rate: £10-26/month depending on hours worked from home
- Software — IDEs, hosting, domains, cloud services, GitHub/GitLab subscriptions
- Hardware — laptop, monitor, keyboard, chair (capital allowances)
- Internet & phone — business proportion of your bills
- Training — courses and books that update your existing skills
- Professional subscriptions — BCS, IEEE, etc.
- Travel — client site visits at 45p/mile (first 10,000)
- Accountant fees — if you use one
Can you get the penalties cancelled?
Possibly — if you had a reasonable excuse. Serious illness, bereavement, HMRC service outages, and mental health conditions can qualify.
"I forgot" or "I was too busy" won't work. But genuine circumstances might.
The maths of waiting
- File today: save £10 tomorrow
- Wait a week: that's another £70
- Wait until daily penalties max out: £900 in daily penalties alone
There is no scenario where waiting helps.
We built a free penalty calculator that shows exactly what you owe based on today's date, and a full guide to the 3-month penalty situation.
If you're a UK freelancer, we also have 25 free tools — invoice generators, tax calculators, expense trackers — no sign-up needed.
Built with AI assistance. Content verified against current HMRC guidance (March 2026).
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