It's that time of year again!

As the Self Assessment tax return filing deadline of 31st January 2020 is fast approaching, don’t forget to get your tax return filed on time, otherwise you’ll get an automatic late filing penalty starting with an immediate £100 fine. 

For some, the pressure of a deadline is motivating, whereby for others it can be debilitating. Although we recommend getting your tax return done as early as possible in the year, if you haven’t, don’t fret, you still have time to do it, so sit down, make a list of what you need to collate and get started.

If it’s your first tax return, you may find it overwhelming, so you might want to take advice in the first instance. Otherwise, whether you are doing your own tax return or using an accountant, here is our guide to collating your information;

1. Make sure you have a note of your UTR (this is your unique tax reference number) and your National Insurance number (and all of your HMRC log in details if you are doing your own tax return), but your accountant will no doubt already have them for you if you are using an agent.

2. Collate all your paperwork together, including any P60(s) showing employment income as well as any P11D form showing benefits in kind if applicable, your bank interest certificates, dividend vouchers and details of any other investment income received in the year to 5th April 2019, including from any investment portfolios, rental income, and crypto-currency. You can exclude any non-taxable income such as premium bond winnings or ISAs. 

3. If you are self-employed and don’t use a bookkeeping software for your business accounting, prepare a spreadsheet detailing your income and expenditure in the year. If your accounting year-end doesn’t match the tax year end you may need further support.

4. If you are a higher rate taxpayer and you want to claim tax relief on your charitable donations, look through your bank statements and emails for any receipts to see what you have paid, and don’t forget any regular monthly donations you’ve made, provided you’ve claimed the Gift Aid relief when set up or paid. If you paid via a portal like www.justgiving.com for example you can download a tax year end summary.

5. If you are a higher rate taxpayer and you are claiming pension relief, check with your pension provider and whether your pension contributions were made net of tax, (or if gross AVCs and retirement annuities may still give you tax relief, but not employer contributions), and ask your IFA or pension provider to send you a pension statement to be sure.

6. Include any child benefit you/your partner received if you are the highest earner and your earnings are over £50,099.

7. Don’t forget to tick the box to state your student loan is outstanding if you have one. If you’ve had any deductions made from your payroll, you should include these so you do not overpay. 

8. Lastly check whether you have any underpaid debt or tax coded for an earlier year from your PAYE code, as that needs to be included in your tax return.  HMRC will be able to tell you this or it will be on your PAYE tax code.

Please feel free to download our PDF checklist to help you collate everything.

Although this information is given as guidance it is not conclusive and you may need to seek further advice if you are in doubt about anything. We would always recommend using an accountant to prepare your personal tax return just because we have seen the errors that can be made, and if you would like our support please get in touch with us.

FUSE is an independent Chartered Certified firm of accountants and tax advisors based in Highgate Village, North London. We provide a dynamic range of services to clients working in property, media, entertainment and professional services. Our clients vary in size from self employed sole traders, small enterprises and medium size businesses. We believe that comprehensive financial planning and sound business financial advice are the keys to growth and profitability.