Get ready for Self-Assessment

Don’t leave it until the last minute

You can file your tax return anytime but still have until 31 January 2022 to pay.

There is a lot of information that you need to gather in preparation for submitting your tax return so please do not leave it until the last minute.

This year you will also have to declare any grants or support payments that you may have received due to covid-19. These include the Self Employment Income Support Scheme, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and any other payments such as Self-Isolation Payments, Local Authority Grants and the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme.

Help to pay

Whilst the economy is still trying to recover from the impacts of covid-19 and pressures from rising inflation are becoming more apparent, HMRC are providing a self-serve Time To Pay facility. If you have concerns about paying your bill, do contact HMRC for guidance or visit their website for further information here.

What if I make a mistake?

The beauty of doing your tax online is that you do not have to complete it all in one go. If you find you are missing some information you can save your progress and then go back to it once you have found it. Conversely, if you have made a mistake, you can rectify it before you submit your return. We would always advise that you check, check and then check again before you submit your return.

You can correct any mistake up until the following year’s filing deadline so if you discover down the line that you have made a mistake on your 2020/21 submission, you have until 31 January 2023 to contact HMRC and advise them.

The importance of keeping records

When it comes to doing your online tax return, the importance of good record keeping pays dividends. You don’t want to be searching high and low for that missing invoice or receipt, turning the house and the office upside down. Keeping records organised throughout the year makes the whole online tax return so much easier. If you use a cloud accounting package like Xero or Quickbooks, the process becomes even easier.

If you are new to self-assessment tax returns, do make sure you start the process as early as possible. Talk to your accountant, they can help or even do the tax return for you, taking the stress and pain away and leaving you to enjoy Christmas and the New Year without the concern of the dreaded self-assessment tax deadline looming.