An HMRC error has seen hundreds of early-paying taxpayers wrongly sent late-payment notices for self-assessment tax returns.

Self-assessment returns for the 2017/18 tax year are due by midnight on 31 January 2019, along with any tax owed.

However, the BBC reported that 653 people who submitted tax returns ahead of the deadline were mistakenly handed late-payment fines of £100.

The Revenue initially played down the issues before admitting that hundreds of individuals who had submitted online tax returns for trusts they manage on 2 January 2019 had been fined.

Speaking to the BBC, a HMRC spokesperson said:

"Due to human error in processing some online trust returns, a small number of trustees or agents have been inadvertently issued with late-filing penalties.

"All affected returns have been identified and the late-filing penalties have been cancelled.

"We apologise for any issues this may have caused our customers and are writing to them directly to let them know."

This follows a recent technical glitch with HMRC's systems, as some people filing their 2017/18 return were sent inaccurate bills which failed to include their payment on account.

A similar error was also made the previous year, with taxpayers asked to pay too little ahead of the second payment on account deadline on 31 July 2018.

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