For the majority of people, December heralds the beginning of the festive season, with Christmas parties, present wrapping and tree decorating to look forward to. Sadly, the mundane tasks of everyday life must still be taken care of, including getting prepared to submit your tax return.
It’s very tempting to push this aside when there are more exciting things to do but being prepared early, and not leaving it all until mid (or even end of!) January will give you peace of mind that you have all the relevant information looked out, you know exactly what your tax liability is and you can start the new year afresh. You can submit your tax return online at any time, and have until the 31st January to pay your liability – but it can take quite some time to finalise everything, so why not get organised now!
There are two options when it comes to completing your return:
1. Get a professional to do it for you
For a completely stress free experience simply use an accountant. Yes it will cost you, but navigating HMRC’s online return system can be complicated and stressful, and you may be missing out on tax reliefs that you aren’t aware of. Most of us don’t service our own cars or check our own teeth, so why not also get a trained professional to do this important task on your behalf as well? All you have to do is provide all the relevant information as soon as possible, plus your HMRC tax reference number and be on hand to answer any queries your accountant might have.
Of course we would say that wouldn’t we (being accountants!) but we honestly believe that leaving it to the experts is the best option for many reasons:
2. Do it yourself
As long as you have an online account with HMRC you can submit your own tax return - if you don’t have one it is important to register for one as soon as possible - https://www.gov.uk/log-in-file-self-assessment-tax-return
It saves a lot of time if you can dig out everything you think you will need beforehand, then have it all at your side for when you sit down at your computer to complete your return.
You will need information such as:
If you are looking for assistance with completing your tax return, our friendly and experienced team would be delighted to help. And they offer a FREE initial consultation to understand your needs prior to giving you a full quote, so why not get in touch via our website or call us on 0141 221 2984 and ask for the personal tax department.
*Stats provided by ICAEW blog https://ion.icaew.com/taxfaculty/b/weblog/posts/hmrc-customer-service-performance-2018-19
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