One of the questions we are asked on a weekly basis in Facebook Groups, messages, our other social media platforms, telephone calls and even people calling into our new, prominent offices on Bolton Road, Atherton (call in and say hello!)  centres around Self-Assessment Tax Returns.

There’s lots of confusion with Self-Assessment, so to put some clarity on it, here’s our brief guide.

Who does it apply to?

Anyone must send a tax return to HMRC if any of the following apply to them:

• they were self-employed as a ‘sole trader’ and earned more than £1,000 (before taking off anything that tax relief can be claimed on)
• they are a partner in a business partnership.
• they earned £100,000 or more.

There are other situations where a tax return might be needed if a person has untaxed income and there’s an easy checklist (yes – we, know “easy” and HMRC  sounds bizarre!) to get a full answer of what might apply. https://www.gov.uk/check-if-you-need-tax-return

Untaxed income can include the below:

• some COVID-19 grant or support payments (hopefully we won’t be needing these again!)
• money from renting out a property.
• tips and commission
• income from savings, investments and dividends
• foreign income

Additionally, individuals who receive Child Benefit may need to send a tax return if their or their partners income was over £50k and some individuals opt to complete a self-assessment form to keep on top of their taxation and HMRC matters  in situations such as claiming Income Tax Reliefs or proving that they’re self-employed eg to claim Tax free Childcare or Maternity Allowance

When does it have to be done by?

The returns have to be returned for the previous Tax year (which runs 6 April to 5 April. There’s often confusion with the date when the submission has to be returned to HMRC which is always 31 January the following year, so for example.

Tax year 6 April 2021 to 5 April 2022 – the deadline to submit the Self-Assessment is 31 January 2023.

We assist and guide all of our clients with their Self-Assessment requirements and we’re always happy to speak to self-employed individuals who want to remove this headache from their mind too.

Please get in touch if you want to know how we can assist at contact@aspireaccounts.com