Self Assessment Tax Returns Made Easy With Simple Taxes

We know the subjects ‘Self Assessment Tax’ and ‘Tax Return’ are terribly boring, and it can be beyond most people’s comfort zones. After all, tax legislation is always changing.

Understanding and keeping up with the complexities of the subject, can be a challenge.

Contents

In this article we cover the below topics:

• Self Assessment Tax for Self Employed
• Use a Self Assessment Expert
• More Time To Run Your Business
• Let Simple Taxes Help You
• What Information Will I Need?
• Expenses and Allowances
• Business Running Costs
• Additional Income – Side Hustles
• What Is A Self Assessment Tax Return?
• Recognising Savings
• Do I Need To Complete A Self Assessment Tax Return?
• Registering For Self Assessment
• An Online Return For the Modern Worker!
• Understanding Your Self Assessment Tax Return
• Simple Taxes Makes Self Assessment Tax Returns Easy
• Experts On Recognising Missed Expenses
• A Client Portal For The Digital Age
• How Do Simple Taxes File My Self Assessment Tax?
• 3 Simple Steps
• When Should I Submit My Self Assessment Tax Return Online?
• Landlords and Income Tax
• Self Assessment Tax From Property Income
• Landlords – Make Sure All Your Expenses Are Accounted For
• Paying Your Self Assessment Tax
• Paying Through Your Tax Code
• What If I Can’t Afford To Pay My Self Assessment Tax Bill?
• What If I Receive A HMRC Penalty?
• Reasonable Excuses To Appeal A HMRC Penalty
• What If I Made A Mistake On My Tax Return?
• Further Information

Self Assessment Tax for Self Employed

For a self employed individual, when your only source of help is through your government Gateway Account, Self Assessment General Enquiries, and a mass of information online, it can be very confusing and difficult to know where to start with Self Assessment.

Understanding Self Assessment Tax, what to prioritise, and how much tax you will end up paying is complex – considering most peoples basic level of experience.

If you receive over £1,000 from self employment income, you must complete the supplementary pages of a personal tax return.

Use a Self Assessment Expert

When it comes to self assessment, it can be it best to seek the help of others, who have made a successful career and business of understanding what you need to pay. Someone who is experienced in identifying those all important expenses and allowances, can in turn save you money.

The money you spend on seeking assistance for self assessment tax can often be returned by the potential savings made from using a professional accountant. In addition, professional fees to assist with your tax affairs are a tax deductible expense.

 

 

More Time to Run Your Business

Running your self employed business or side project for additional income can be a huge challenge that leaves you with little time for anything else.

You are expected to understand what is taxable income, if you owe self assessment tax, how to declare income, and the legislation around submitting a Tax Return!

A subject matter that has taken our qualified accountants years to become experts in.

Let Simple Taxes Help You

Your assigned Simple Taxes accountant will act on your behalf, using your unique taxpayer reference to handle all the tricky questions on your self assessment tax return.

Freeing up your time to concentrate on work that will benefit your business, pocket, and lifestyle.

What Information Will I Need?

To complete your self assessment you will need:

• Details of all your income sources in the tax year
• Details of any business expenses incurred in the tax year

Expenses and Allowances

Your Tax Return you submit each tax year should ensure you are not missing out on any personal allowance, claim for allowances, and expenses deductible from your taxable income.

This is your hard earned money we are talking about, and we want you to keep it.

Filing online is not just for a limited company, and it is the future of all tax returns, eventually becoming the norm for self assessment tax and National Insurance.

It is important to seek expert advice on what your tax bill is going to look like for the tax year, for any other income which hasn’t been taxed at source.

Business Running Costs

When you are self employed, your business will incur various expenses. You can deduct some of these expenses under self assessment, to work out your taxable profit each tax year.

Don’t worry, your expert accountant will help you identify both common and unique self employed costs. They could include things like:

• Costs of running your office. This can include bills, equipment and stationary
• Costs of the business premises. Including rates, heating and lighting
• Your regular staff costs
• Subcontractor costs
• Uniforms and any PPE
• Financial costs – insurance and bank charges
• Professional fees, such as accountants (that’s us – an expense)
• Advertising and any marketing
•  

Additional Income – Side Hustles

Other income is now vital for most people in the UK, to maintain a standard of living.

Don’t let the opportunity of earning additional income drastically increase your tax bill. Use self assessment to claim any expenses and allowances you are entitled to.

What is a Self Assessment Tax Return?

A Self Assessment Tax Return is a form that HMRC requires each year from people who owe income tax.

Sometimes tax and National Insurance is deducted automatically from employment earnings or pensions, known as PAYE (pay as you earn).

However, you should report any income that isn’t taxed at source in the tax year to HMRC annually, by submitting a self assessment tax return.

A UK Tax Return can be completed by our experts quickly and without fuss.

Recognising Savings

When you contact HMRC or use the available Self Assessment Helpline, you can be assisted with general and technical enquiries on the process required to complete a tax return.

Tax however, is an ever evolving beast, and HM Revenue offer a basic service for the self employed, and will not go into individual circumstances regarding their self assessment and tax return.

Do I Need to Complete a Self Assessment Tax Return?

You will need to complete an annual Self Assessment Tax Return before the end of the UK tax year if you fall into any of the below categories:

• You are self employed as a sole trader and earn over £1000 per year
• You are a partner in a business partnership
• You are a subcontractor under CIS (construction industry scheme)
• You are a landlord receiving rental income
• You are an employed high earner with a salary of over £100k a year
• You receive dividends
• You receive bank interest
• You receive child benefit and earn over £50k
• You have had capital gains in the year, ie from the sale of a property where capital gains tax may be payable
• You’ve made private pension contributions to a registered pension scheme as a higher rate taxpayer
• You have invested in SEIS or EIS start-ups
• You receive foreign income
•  

Registering for Self Assessment

You can register for self-assessment online using the HMRC government website here where you will be issued a ten-digit unique tax reference (your UTR number).

Even this process is alien to some, and they would much prefer an expert to register them for Self Assessment Tax.

It is also the convenience of knowing that an expert is handling their Self Assessment from the very beginning, meeting the self assessment deadlines.

Our Self Assessment Registration process is quick and very affordable. You can find more details here.

An Online Return for the Modern Worker!

Paying tax should be easy. The days of visiting expensive accountants, sat there wondering what they are talking about are over. You deserve to complete your self assessment tax return online, from the comfort of your home.

Out with the slow paper returns, in with the fast and digital!

Whether you are self employed, a sole trader, a high earner, a director receiving dividends, or a landlord, the process of declaring self employment income to pay tax should be quick and easy.

Understanding of Your Self Assessment Tax Return

Understanding the details of a Self Assessment Tax Return, national insurance contributions, expenses, and allowances are key to ensuring your tax bill from your completed self assessment is as low as possible.

Many self employed people simply do not know what they are entitled to, nor do they know how to ensure they are being treated fairly when it comes to paying self assessment tax.

Completing your self assessment should be like todays modern conveniences, taking full advantage of IT and cloud based services.

When you use a professional accountant you are ensuring that every tax year, your self assessment Tax Return is accurate, and submitted on time avoiding penalties, and/or having to pay interest.

Simple Taxes Makes Self Assessment Tax Returns Easy

By choosing Simple Taxes, you can cut out the hassle involved with traditional accountants and paper returns.

With our 100% online self assessment tax return filing service, you can enjoy a quick and simple process, letting you get back to doing what you enjoy whilst meeting Self Assessment Tax deadlines.

Experts on Recognising Missed Expenses

We are experts on recognising any missed expenses, allowances, and your position in the tax year. The devil is in the detail, and in the case of Self Assessment tax and your tax bill, the details ensure the income tax due on your tax return is correct and your are not overpaying.

With so much tax in our daily lives, we want to ensure that any claims to tax relief, expenses, or allowances have been diligently checked for. We can claim tax relief where possible on your untaxed income, before you make any assessment payments.

A Client Portal for the Digital Age

We complete your tax return by setting up and communicating through your free secure Client Portal. Your cloud based portal is free for as long as you are a customer.

This is a secure and efficient way to communicate, exchange and sign documents, and far superior to old fashioned paper self assessment tax returns.

How Do Simple Taxes File My Self Assessment Tax?

At Simple Taxes, we aim to make filing your online Self Assessment Tax Return as easy as possible.

We have developed a straight-forward, 100% online step-by-step system, ensuring you don’t have any struggles when you need to submit your self assessment tax return.

3 Simple Steps

Firstly, we need you to answer a few basic questions on your income sources and expenses in the tax year, so that we can gain a full understanding of your financial situation, and what income tax and allowances are applicable.

Secondly, your assigned accountant will be in touch with you to request any documents and/or information, and to check that we aren’t missing anything untaxed income, taxable benefits, other income and those over important expenses to offset the before mentioned. Even small allowable expenses can add up to a significant amount over time and effect tax the tax calculation and tax due.

Finally, we hand your Self Assessment Tax Return over to you for approval by e-signature, giving you a chance to check it over and make sure everything is perfect. Once you have signed off the tax return, we will file it with HMRC for you in good time of the deadline.

When Should I Submit my Self-Assessment Tax Return Online?

If HMRC ask you to submit a Self Assessment Tax Return, you must submit the return on or before 31 October (for paper tax returns) or on or before 31 January (for online returns).

If HMRC ask you to submit a Self Assessment Tax Return after 31 January, you must submit the return (whether paper return or electronic) within the three months beginning with the date of the notice.

You can ask HMRC for help on the Self Assessment Helpline or contact Simple Taxes. We will be happy to confirm what is required.

Landlords and Income Tax

As a landlord you must pay income tax on any profit you receive from any rental properties you own.

Your profit is the amount left once you’ve added together your rental income, then deducted any expenses and allowances.

If you have a mortgage on the property you let out, you can include some of the mortgage interest you incur as an expense under the buy-to-let mortgage tax relief.

When your rental property is owned in joint names, you will need to split the figures on your individual tax returns.

Self Assessment Tax from Property Income

Landlords that receive rental income from a property are legally required to file a self assessment tax return with HM Revenue and Customs every year.

Don’t let the self assessment tax system stress you out, get in touch with our team at Simple Taxes and we will provide the tax return service you need ensuring you pay enough tax, avoiding any unexpected penalties and interest.

The first £1,000 of your income from property rental is tax-free. This is your ‘property allowance’.

Contact the HMRC self assessment tax helpline if your income from property rental is over £1,000 a year.

You can get earn up to £7,500 a year tax-free by taking advantage of the Rent a Room scheme.

Landlords – Make Sure All Your Expenses are Accounted For

If you make money from renting out a property, you can claim expenses for:

• rates, insurance and ground rent
• repairs and maintenance
• interest on loans and other financial costs
• legal, management and professional fees.

You can’t claim expenses if you claim the £1,000 tax-free trading allowance

Paying Your Self Assessment Tax

There are many different ways you can pay your self assessment tax bill. Through HMRC’s online pay service or your government gateway login are the most convenient methods. The various ways you can pay are:

• Direct Debit
• Bank transfer
• Debit or credit card
• At your bank or building society
• Cheque through the post
• Through your tax code

Paying Tax Through Your Tax Code

You can pay your Self Assessment tax bill through your PAYE tax code as long as all of the below apply:

• you owe less than £3,000 on your tax bill
• you already pay your tax through PAYE, for example you’re an employee or you get a company pension
• you submitted your paper tax return by 31 October or your online tax return online by 30 December

What if I Can’t Afford to Pay My Self Assessment Tax Bill?

If you are struggling to pay your tax bill for the tax year by 31 January, you should contact the HMRC self assessment helpline as soon as you can.

They will work with you to set up a budget payment plan called a Time to Pay arrangement.

This plan will usually spread your payments over a period of 12 months.

What if I Receive a HMRC Penalty

Late payment of tax, or the late submission of your self assessment tax return, will automatically trigger HMRC penalties.

You can appeal the penalty if you have a reasonable excuse.

Reasonable Excuses To Appeal A HMRC Penalty

This is something that stopped you meeting a tax obligation that you took reasonable care to meet, for example:

• your partner or another close relative died shortly before the tax return or payment deadline
• you had an unexpected stay in hospital that prevented you from dealing with your tax affairs
• you had a serious or life-threatening illness
• your computer or software failed just before or while you were preparing your online return
• issues with HMRC online services
• a fire, flood or theft prevented you from completing your tax return
• postal delays that you could not have predicted
• delays related to a disability or mental illness you have
• you were unaware of or misunderstood your legal obligation
• you relied on someone else to send your return, and they didn’t

What if I Made A Mistake on my Tax Return?

Don’t worry! If you realise you made a mistake on your tax return that was due in by the 31st of January, you have until the 31st of January of the following year to submit an amended tax return.

If you are unsure, get in touch with us and we can do this for you.

Further Information

For further information on self assessment tax returns, please see the HMRC guidance here.

If you need help with sole trader setup, accounts or tax returns, get in touch with us today at www.simpletaxes.co.uk .

Disclaimer

The information contained in this blog is for general information purposes only, and not for accounting and tax advice. You should speak to a qualified professional about your specific circumstances before acting upon any of the information in this blog.

Date Published: December 2022