Self-Employed? Don’t Miss The Self Assessment Tax Return Deadline
If you’ve recently decided to go it alone and set up on your own, you’ll need to get ready for a tax adjustment.
All sole-traders/ self-employed are required to complete a Self Assessment tax return before midnight on the 31st January every year. Here, we uncover everything you need to know, helping you submit your Self Assessment before the deadline.
Why do you need to complete a Self Assessment?
The self-employed must pay tax to HMRC like everybody else. The pain-point for HMRC is that they can’t track self-employed earnings in quite the same way as others. To establish how much a self-employed worker owes in tax, a Self Assessment form (showing income and expenses for the tax year) must be completed.
Missing the deadline will result in a £100 penalty, increasing by £10 per day thereafter for up to 90 days. You’ll also have interest on unpaid tax. In some cases where the taxman suspects deliberate avoidance, you could even face prosecution.
HMRC accurate tax returns, on-time – no matter how new you might be to self-employment. That’s why it’s so crucial to understand how to file a tax return before it’s too late.
How to file a Self Assessment tax return
There are a number of different ways to submit a Self Assessment tax return if you’re self-employed.
The first is by post; although the deadline for sending your Self Assessment in this manner has already passed (31st October). HMRC aren’t keen on the paper format and are actively taking steps to phase this submission method out.
HMRC’s online gateway is currently the most favoured method of submitting Self Assessments, where users enter earnings on an online form. This too, maybe phased out along with postal returns.
For self-employed workers in the current climate, the best two options for submitting a tax return are via an accountant or HMRC recognised software. Accountants are knowledgeable and skilled but come at a cost (an average of £250 for a basic return), whilst software is as easy to use as it is affordable, with helpful prompts to guide you through the process.
How is SimpleTax software useful for someone self-employed?
With SimpleTax, you can hit the Self Assessment tax return deadline and submit an error-free form directly to HMRC that the taxman will look upon kindly. Whether you’re a sole trader, limited company director in receipt of dividends, or you withdraw your income in another manner, it’s never been simpler to submit online.
Utilising cloud-based technology, SimpleTax streamlines your submission, flagging up eligible expenses and automatically calculating what you owe. So, you can submit your tax return on your desktop, phone or tablet, quickly.
The tax return deadline is fast approaching, so trial SimpleTax today for free. The sooner you see how our tax return software works, the better placed you’ll be to submit an accurate form on time.
And, you’ll save big on accountancy hire and gain a resource you can trust.
