The Government is suggesting that, as there is now fewer than 100 days before the 2017 to 2018 Self-Assessment tax return is due, people should start thinking about getting their submissions in if they haven’t already.
As their recent statement points out, although taxpayers can complete their Self Assessment for the previous tax year from as early as 6 April, many choose to wait until after Christmas to fill it in.
Last year, more than 11 million taxpayers completed a 2016 to 2017 Self Assessment tax return, with 10.7 million completing on time, bringing in a record £32.7 billion to the economy. However, of these, almost 45 per cent of the total, which was 4,852,744 taxpayers, filed in January 2018, and 758,707 filed on 31 January, the deadline day.
Therefore, the Government is suggesting that as there is a reasonable amount of lead time before the 2017 to 2018 Self Assessment deadline on 31 January 2019, taxpayers could complete their tax return in advance, find out how much tax they need to pay, and pay the money owed by the deadline, without the stress interrupting their holiday period.
A spokeswoman for HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) reiterated this message, saying that the Revenue wants to help people get their tax returns right and to help taxpayers, they have produced films and webinars which show every stage of the Self Assessment process, with special guidance for different types of people.
The deadline for paper tax returns in 31 October 2018 and the deadline for online tax returns and paying any tax owed is 31 January 2019. If taxpayers miss the deadline, they face a minimum £100 penalty for late filing.
