Self Assessments

What is self assessment?

The self assessment is an official Government tax return form which obliges you to accurately report on

• your earnings,
• the sources of those earnings, and
• any allowable expenses incurred which may be used to reduce the amount of tax you pay.

The responsibility to calculate this information now falls to the taxpayer to:

• correctly calculate how much tax you owe;
• report that information to HMRC within a set timescale after the end of the year;
• make payment of any tax owed in full, this is subject to the payment on account system.

Get in touch with our personal account managers to find out how this will affect you.

Do i need to file a self assessment tax return?

If your income is only from wages or pension, you will not usually need to send a return. However, you may need to send one if you have any other untaxed income, some common examples include:

• self-employed as a ‘sole trader’ and earned more than £1,000
• a partner in a business partnership
• earned tips and commission
• generated more than £1000 income from renting out a property
• obtained foreign income
• earned income from savings, investments and dividends

If you are unsure if you need to file a self-assessment, please get in touch so we can assist.

When do I have to submit the form and what happens if I am late?

You have until 31st January following the end of the tax year. This means, for the tax year ending April 5th 2020, your electronic submission must be in by 31st January 2021. If you don’t file your return on time, you will automatically receive a £100 fine even when you do not have any tax to pay or have paid any tax that you owe. If you miss the deadline by more than three months (1st May, onwards), you will get a £10 a day fine for every day that it’s late, up to £900 or 90 days. To avoid all risk of receiving a fine get in touch with our account managers. We will ensure that no deadlines are missed and that you will not incur any penalties.

What if i made a mistake on my tax return?

Firstly, don’t worry! We all make mistakes and a mistake when filing a self assessment tax return is fixable. If you made a mistake on your tax return, you can make an amendment even after you have filed it. For example, if you made a mistake for the 2018-2019 tax year you have until 31st January 2021 to notify HMRC. Your statement will then be updated and you may be owed more tax or need to pay more. Get in touch with one of our Account Managers if you have any concerns with your historic tax returns.