Remember your tax return or face a fine
As people return to work and begin to catch up after the Christmas break it is easy for things to get missed, but one thing you can’t forget is your self-assessment tax return deadline, warns ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).
HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) requires anyone completing a self-assessment online return to send their forms to them by the end of January. The number of people required to complete self-assessment forms has increased dramatically in recent years following the changes to child benefit for higher rate taxpayers.
Chas Roy-Chowdhury, ACCA’s head of taxation said: “The end of January may seem like a long way off but it will come round quicker than you think. My advice would be to get your return done as early as possible. The earlier you start to do it, the more time you have to check that you have everything to complete it. As you may find, for instance, that you do not have all the interest statements that you need. HMRC won’t hesitate in fining you if there are mistakes in your tax return. The last thing anyone needs is a wholly avoidable fine from the tax man, especially after the expense of Christmas.”
“For many people filing an online self-assessment return is a straightforward process, but if you are unsure about the information you are submitting, seek the advice of a chartered certified accountant. The cost of a professional accountant will be less than any accumulated fine from HMRC. Don’t be one of the, almost, one million people caught out each year.”
If you miss the 31 January deadline you will be fined £100, regardless of whether you actually owe any tax. If the return is still outstanding after three months a charge of £10 per day for the next 90 days will be applied.
More details about self-assessment, the deadline and penalties can be found on the HMRC website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/agents/sa-31oct.htm if you need the help of a professional qualified accountant visit http://www.accaglobal.com/en/discover/find-accountant.html
