There’s no doubt about it. Submitting your tax returns accurately and on time can be a confusing business. And to add to the confusion, tax return deadlines can change, depending on how you submit your financial information to HMRC.

To begin with, do you know if you actually need to submit a tax return?

Well, if one of the following applies to you, then you do:-

– you are self-employed
– you are a business partner or a director of a limited company
– you’re an employee with an income of £100,000 or more per year
– you’re a pensioner
– you have a pre-tax investment income of £10,000 or more
– you are a trustee of an estate for someone who has died

If you are an employee in the UK, your tax will be paid through your employer. This is called PAYE, and your employer is responsible for ensuring you pay the correct amount of tax to HMRC.

Make a note of these self-assessment tax deadlines… at the time of writing, the main 2017-2018 tax deadlines are:-

31st July 2018 – if you are self-employed and make payments on account
31st October 2018 – if you file a paper tax return (if you miss this deadline, you can still file online)
30th December – submit your online return by 30th December if you want HMRC to automatically collect tax you owe from your wages and pension
31st January 2019 – this is the BIG deadline for filing your online tax returns

“Many people find submitting their tax forms difficult,” said Afford Bond Partner, Paul Edwards, “and the temptation is to ignore the brown envelope which lands on your doormat. But failure to meet HMRC deadlines will result in fines which no-one wants to incur – so filling in your tax return is just one of those tasks that has to be done. Unless of course, you ask an accountant to do it for you!”

Afford Bond are Cheshire’s leading Chartered Accountants and tax experts with offices in Nantwich, Wilmslow and Chester. Key competences are tax returns, accounts, audit, payroll and corporate finance and we see constant overlap in the delivery of these services demonstrating the need for qualified and experienced advisors. If you need help with your self-assessment tax return, please contact Kate.Quirk@affordbond.com or complete the Contact Us form on our website.