File your Self Assessment earlyThe Self Assessment is the dirty laundry of the business world – you know it needs doing by the end of January, but you put it off, again and again, hoping that somehow it’ll do itself. Suddenly Christmas has come to pass and you realise there’s no avoiding it any more.
You’re not the only one procrastinating – in 2018, 2.6 million people (nearly a quarter of those due to file) had still not filed their return by the 29th January, leaving them just two days to beat the January 31st deadline. It should come as no surprise that, historically, deadline day is the busiest single day for filing. Over 6% of total returns due (758,707) were filed in the final 24 hours this year – some 745,588 people still missed the filing deadline in 2018 though. Every year HMRC rakes in millions in fines from those filing late. HMRC have a chequered history of when it comes to Self Assessment season. In 2012 the deadline was extended after call centre staff went on strike on January 31st, and in 2014 certain individuals were given a two-week extension. HMRC has also faced stability issues with its Online Services – the website used to complete Self Assessments online. At its peak, HMRC Online Services processes around 12 returns per second. Preparation before submissionTo file your Self Assessment you need all kinds of paperwork – P45s, P60s, expenses, invoices, and bank statements. If you file in January you’ll need records going back almost two years, and many banks don’t let you get to that information easily.
Depending on your bank and the type of account you have, you may need to order historic statements either in a digital or paper format. If you bank with a particularly archaic financial institution, you may also have to pay for them. The more organised Self Assessment filers will download and store monthly statements in handy CSV format, but mistakes can and will happen on January 31st, so file that return early and overcome and bank statement-related snafus. |
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Still feeling stuck? We can help! |
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We take the pain out of Self Assessments, and will handle any correspondence you receive from HMRC. Please call us for a quote or simply send us a email on info@moneytreefinancial.co.uk
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