Kent, United Kingdom – Over the last few years, the construction industry has been hit hard by lay-offs, job losses and contracts are getting harder to come by. For many of these construction workers money’s tight especially now Christmas has come and gone; people are struggling to find work and in some cases losing the roof over their heads. To make matters worse in these uncertain economic times the Inland Revenue (HMRC) are closing the doors in the New Year for construction workers as well as other workers to claim the thousands of pounds worth of tax refunds owed to them and many of their work colleagues.

As of 18/01/2011 Most CIS construction workers can claim back for six years in unclaimed tax refunds, that many construction workers are entitled to. However, soon that will be cut to four years with an average refund of £600-£800 per year; this means that they will lose the opportunity to claim back potentially £1,500 or more. That extra money could make a difference. Most of these construction workers that are entitled to claim tax refund need to act fast … If they have not already claimed back their expenses for the last 6 years, or if they think their claim could go back that far then should contact Rift tax refunds to avoid missing out. Ouch! How much?! Rift say that - If you do your own self-assessment each year, you will be very familiar with the usual TV adverts, which remind us of the final date for our annual tax returns. It`s 31 October for paper returns and 31 January if you do it online. With so much going on in our lives, many of us at some point have fallen behind, submitted late and incurred a £100 penalty charge. There are also those people who didn`t realise they needed to make a return, and without realising incur a fine. Ouch! £100 is a lot of money, especially in the current economic climate, but things are just about to get a whole lot worse. HMRC have changed the penalty system for this year. They used to ignore the £100 penalty if most people didn`t owe them any tax but not anymore . . . 1. If someone submits a return for the 10/11 tax year late (even by one day), they will be charged £100 penalty, which will not be refunded even if they owe no tax.

 2. On top of this, if that person is 3 months late with their submission then HMRC will start to charge daily penalties of £10 a day for every day late, up to £900. 3. If they are 6 months late they will be charged another £300, or 5% of the tax due whichever is the greater. 4. If they are 12 months late they will be charged another £300, or 5% of the tax due whichever is the greater. So, it`s more important than ever to get a assessment in on time. Straight after the Christmas break make it a New Year resolution, to fill out all the information on line, and get it off before the 31 January. The general public should not ignore any warning letters from the HMRC, if construction workers are looking for a PAYE tax refunds or CIS tax refunds then they should act fast to avoid these new penalty fines.