Everybody knows the pressure and stress that having to get their tax return completed by 31 January can bring. That desperate hunting through piles of paperwork or filing cabinets to try and find just what you did with your P60. Then when you find them you realise you have to do the same search for bank interest statements and dividend vouchers. By the time you have all the paperwork together you are in a foul mood. And then you try to understand the instructions from the Revenue on how to fill the form in. Finally, just when you think you are nearly finished you realise that there is the tax calculation to complete and the instructions for this could only be understood by Einstein’s cleverer brother. And then when you think you’ve completed everything you realise you’ve used last years P60!
Well this year HMRC have decided to have two tax return deadlines. Why? HMRC want to encourage people to complete their returns earlier and to file them on-line. So if you want to send in a paper tax return and have them do the calculation for you it has to be received by them before 31 October. Any paper returns filed after this date could receive a £100 penalty. If you are prepared to do your return on-line then you still have until 31 January. You may think that is plenty of time, but beware, if you are not already registered with them on-line, it can take around a week for the authorisation to come through. In January, when everybody is trying to file their returns the system can get very slow and last year it even crashed on the deadline day!
If all this sounds like your worst nightmare, then PayStream can help. We have our own personal tax department staffed by experienced tax professionals. The service is open to all taxpayers not just PayStream customers. As we file all the returns using our own on-line link to HMRC we have until 31 January to get it filed. We sort out any queries for you and let you know exactly what your tax liability is and when it should be paid. It’s a simple stress free system and at a very competitive price starting at £125 + VAT
To find out more email personaltax@paystream.co.uk and we will send you full details.