What being late with tax will cost
Paying tax late costs penalties and daily interest. See what you'd owe, line by line.
Your answer
Enter how much was due and how many days late you paid.
About this calculator
For a Self Assessment tax bill or a VAT payment that was paid late, or will be. It works out the late payment penalties and HMRC's interest, and for VAT the penalty point for a late return.
It doesn't cover late filing penalties for a Self Assessment return, the new penalties for people in Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, or other taxes.
What happens to your answers
We don’t keep them. Your answers go to our server to do the sums and aren’t stored or logged. If you copy a link to your answers, they’re in the link itself, so only share it with people you trust.
How it’s worked out
Interest is simple daily interest: what you owe × HMRC's yearly rate × the days late ÷ 365. HMRC's rate is the Bank of England's rate plus 4%, so it changes when the Bank's does. We use today's rate for every day.
VAT: nothing if you pay within 15 days. Then 3% of what's unpaid at day 15, another 3% of what's unpaid at day 30, and from day 31 a daily penalty at 10% a year. A late return earns a point; at 2, 4 or 5 points (yearly, quarterly or monthly returns) there's a £200 penalty, and another £200 for each late return after that.
Self Assessment: 5% of the tax unpaid after 30 days, another 5% after 6 months and another 5% after 12 months. From April 2027 this changes to the VAT-style system, at 4%.
Worked example
Paying £15,000 of VAT 51 days late costs about £1,148.73.
VAT, quarterly returns · 51 days late · interest at 7.8% throughout · nothing paid until then
| VAT paid 51 days late | £15,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Late payment penalty: 3% of the VAT unpaid at day 15 | + £450.00 |
| Late payment penalty: Another 3% of the VAT unpaid at day 30 | + £450.00 |
| Late payment penalty: 10% a year from day 31: £15,000.00 × 10% × 21 ÷ 365 days | + £86.30 |
| Interest: £15,000.00 × 7.8% × 51 ÷ 365 days (Bank Rate 3.8% + 4%) | + £162.43 |
| Total cost of being late | £1,148.73 |
Worked out using HMRC's published rates for the 2026/27 tax year (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027), on a yearly basis.
Questions people ask
Can I stop the penalties if I can't pay?
Ask HMRC for a payment plan (Time to Pay) as early as you can. For VAT, asking within 15 days stops the first penalty; asking by day 30 stops the rest. Interest still runs.
Do penalty points ever go away?
Yes. Below the limit, each point goes after about 2 years. At the limit, they're all cleared once you've sent every return on time for a set period (12 months if you file quarterly) and sent any missing returns from the last 2 years.
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