Golden Rules for Dealing with your Self-Assessment Returns (SA).
Did you know that the final dead line for filling your 6th April tax return is the 31st January in the following year. You will have to send a completed SA form to the revenue and have calculated your own tax due to the Revenue unless you file your completed return by the 30th September. If you supply the figures to the revenue before September each year they will help you calculate your tax liability.
It is easy to file your self-assessment online with the Revenues' interactive system. It is self-explanatory if you have some knowledge of basic accounts and keep good records. Go to www.hmcr.gov.uk and follow the instructions. It may well be worthwhile taking some advice from a qualified person in your first years of trading to ensure you are claiming all the benefits you are entitled to.
What to do each year:
1) Get organised, start collecting together the information you will need as the year progresses, don't leave it to the last minute.
2) Don't leave everything to the last minute there is an automatic fine £100 for late filling. You are under a legal obligation from 1996 to keep adequate records.
3) Try and record everything during the year while expenses and receipts are still fresh in your mind. Trying to remember items of expenses from almost 18 months ago is very difficult.
4) Do not try to send an incomplete form thinking that the revenue will accept that as a proper filling. If you have left it to January its up to you to get it right.
5) Start to put cash aside on a monthly basis into a saving scheme to meet your interim (July) and final (January) tax payments. Again there are fines and penalties for paying these late. (There is an automatic surcharge of 5%, which is equal to an APR of 60%, plus interest at the current approved rate.)
6) Try and file your returns before September 30th. There is no difference in the revenues eyes other than they are under an obligation to help you sort your affairs out.
7) Assume that you will be one of the random 40,000 people and returns that the revenue inspects every year for no other reason that the computer generates your name. (There is less than 1% chance of been selected so you can breathe a little easier).
8) You should make any assumptions or apportionments that you have made whilst preparing your accounts very clear in writing at the end of the SA form. There is blank space to advise the Revenue about any provisions etc that you may have made. Or a side letter to the Revenue explaining anything unusual and not straightforward that you have entered onto you SA. The Revenue can challenge your figures till January 2007 if they are not happy with them.
9) Don't throw anything away for the time being. Remember the revenue run a policy of "process now and Check later". And its your responsibility to be able to produce proper evidenced expenditure, wholly and exclusively for your business.
10) Get professional advice if your affairs are complicated. Doing it yourself may well be a false economy and you may be claiming for allowances and making claims that are not due to you. Fines and interest will accrue on these if you are investigated.
SOME COMMON ERRORS
Not attaching any relevant supplementary pages to you final return;
Not nominating where any repayment is to go;
Not nominating whom the repayments is to go to;
Not ticking the repayment box;
Not ticking the mandatory boxes;
No signature.
Good Luck with this years filling
Golden Rules for dealing with Self Assessment