10 Tips for a less stressful Self Assessment Return

1. If you are employed, you will need your P60 and perhaps a P11D. If you are self-employed, you will need all records of business income and expenditure. You also need to keep details of all other income such as statements of building society interest, details of any dividends received and also pension contributions made.

2. Buy a stationery spike to put your receipts on so that they are all in one place and easy to find.

3. An expanding wallet file is a boring but useful idea! You could keep a separate section for each month or type of expense and simply file your paperwork in the relevant section throughout the year.

4. Dealing with the tax office - the HMRC website holds a lot of helpful information and advice. It also lists contact telephone numbers and addresses by office if you need more help. www.hmrc.gov.uk

5. Keep a note of your National Insurance number and/or your Unique Tax Reference Number. Both are normally shown on your Self Assessment Return and your Statements of Account. If you need to contact your tax office about a specific matter, they will then be able to locate your records quickly.

6. To ease cashflow, try to budget for your tax payments throughout the year. You may need to make payments on account for the current year. Each payment is normally equal to half of the previous year’s tax liability. These payments are due on 31 January in the tax year and 31 July following the tax year. The balance of any tax you owe for the previous tax year will also be payable by 31 January.

7. If you expect your tax bill for the current year to be less than it was last year, you may be able to make a claim to reduce your payments on account.

8. Are you aware of all the business-related expenses that can be claimed against turnover? For example, if you are self-employed and work from home, you may be able to claim a certain amount of household expenses in line with the proportion of your home used for business purposes and the time spent working there.

9. Don’t give away your hard-earned cash by being late with your return. There is an automatic penalty of £100 if your return is not received on time.

10. Why not file your return online or ask your accountant to do it for you? If HMRC owes you money, repayments will be made more quickly than if your return is sent on paper.