Tax returns for 2018/19 are due by midnight on 31 January 2020 and we’re on the home straight as far as that goes at Dunkley’s.
Each year an increasing volume of clients come to us to sort their financial affairs, perhaps reflecting a rise in the self-employed population.
The end of this month promises to be busier than ever for HMRC, which has to deal with the UK’s departure for the EU alongside self-assessment.
With that in mind, anyone either filing a tax return for the first time or who has simply left it to the last minute should get in touch with us urgently.
So long as you have registered for self-assessment before the 5 October deadline, we can ensure you comply with your tax obligations.
Who must send a tax return
If you earnt more than £1,000 in untaxed income during 2018/19, you need to declare it by submitting a tax return through self-assessment.
Usually this includes sole traders or business partners, while it extends to landlords making any money from renting out property.
If you own shares in a company that produced dividends of more than £2,000 in 2018/19, they need to be declared along with any income from savings or investments.
Foreign income or gains, such as earnings from working abroad or renting out an overseas property, that exceeds £1,000 also needs to be declared.
Share your records
In order for us to help you comply, we need all relevant records related to your income and any expenses incurred in 2018/19.
These could be a P60, P45 or P11D relating to any tax or benefits deducted from salary, or receipts from buying tools if you’re self-employed.
Statements from any income received through savings, investments, dividends or pensions in 2018/19 is required, as are the details of any rental income or expenses (cleaning, gardening etc).
Records showing profit from the sale of any assets or evidence of foreign income helps paint a clear picture of your untaxed income from 2018/19.
Embrace technology
By far the easiest way to share your records from 2018/19 is to embrace cloud accounting software, which we use to collaborate with our existing clients and submit their tax returns in plenty of time before the deadline.
While it’s safe to say most of our clients using this software are business owners, we urge individuals to consider using cloud accounting software as they soon will need to submit digital tax returns.
The current schedule for the government’s Making Tax Digital scheme to extent to income tax and corporation tax is April 2021, although that may be delayed like a raft of other measures recently.
Given the technology is already proving successful with VAT-registered businesses, it’s our opinion that no further delays will be announced to this timeline and the sooner you get used to using digital software, the better.
Help is at hand
Our personal tax planning service takes care to understand your finances, apply any relief to potentially minimise what you owe HMRC and file your tax return on your behalf.
We handle complex tax returns for dentists, landlords, medical professionals and more, so if you need our expert assistance get in touch with us at advice@dunkleys.accountants or on 01454 619900.