Sending the taxman many happy returns

Normally, today would be the last day for filing self-assessment tax returns with HMRC if you wanted to avoid being fined.

However, in a rare moment of generosity, albeit one caused by a strike by staff working at call centres, the Revenue has agreed to give everyone two extra days to get their returns in.

It makes sense. Around 90,000 calls are taken on deadline day and it would have stretched even HMRC’s definition of fairness to insist that the 31st was still the cut off point.

Although many people will be breathing a sigh of relief at the news, it doesn’t alter the fact  that a tax return still needs to be filed.

So if you'’re still getting to grips with the whole thing, what’s to be done?

Firstly, bear in mind that this deadline is only for online returns. Paper ones should have been in some little while ago and if they weren’t, the fines will be mounting up.

The fines themselves have also got tougher. The standard £100 fine for being late now also applies even if you have no tax to pay. In other words, you must get your form in, no matter what.

And besides, why give the Revenue another reason to get in touch with you? This column has always believed that the best relationship with HMRC is a low profile one, where the forms are accurate and sent in on time. Do you really want to be on their radar?

You might be as innocent as a newborn, but if the Revenue decide to make you prove it, it’ll take hours and hours out of your life.

The first thing to do is to decide if you actually need to fill in a return. Those who are fully employed and pay basic rate tax, i.e. most of us, won’t need to bother. Complications can arise if you’re a higher rate taxpayer, self-employed or have other sources of income such as a buy to let property.

This latter point often catches people out, as for some reason they seem to think that extra bits and pieces of extra income don’t count. Sadly, this isn’t the case. If you’re in any doubt, ring the call centre and double check.

So having decided you do have to fill in a form, what’s next?

The best advice is to get all the information you need in one quiet place, away from any distractions, and set to it. A P60, details of any self-employment and freelance income, bank and building society interest, company dividends and all the receipts and invoices are just some of the things you might need. Make sure you’re claiming for everything you’re legitimately entitled to. Mileage, subsistence, and phone calls are all possible areas where you can seek to reduce your bill.

You’ll need to get a PIN from the HMRC website www.hmrc.gov.uk/index.htm and then it’s ‘just’ a question of filling in the form.

And be accurate. As far as the HMRC is concerned, all the information required to fill in a form properly is either on line or at the end of a phone and they don’t take kindly to receiving wrong information. The fines for getting it wrong can be very severe.

If the worst comes to the worst and you are going to be late, you still need to get the form in. Missing deadline day doesn’t make the return go away.

And it’s the same if you remember something else once you’ve got the form in. For all the reasons mentioned above, it’s far better to let the tax office know yourself rather than let them find it for themselves.