Almost a million taxpayers failed to submit their self-assessment tax returns for the tax year ended 5 April 2011 by the deadline of 31 January 2012 – that’s around 1 in 12 of all taxpayers. If you are one of them then you are advised to act now to avoid the risk of significant financial penalties building up.

As well as the £100 penalty that is charged by HMRC for all late submissions, further penalties will start to build up if the return is not submitted by the end of April.

From the beginning of May additional penalties will accrue at the rate of £10 per day and could build up to £1,000 by the end of July with even higher penalties after then.

Even if the taxpayer’s position is fairly straightforward it can take a while to assemble all the records needed to prepare a self-assessment return.  The self-employed will have to prepare their accounts while anyone letting out property will have to calculate the rent they received and what expenses they can deduct in order to work out their net income.  Taxpayers with substantial savings investments will have to review their financial records to work out their taxable income.  And anyone who also has income from a regular job will have to add in their income from employment by finding the P60s and P11Ds which were provided by their employer last year.  Some people’s tax affairs may be even more complicated.

HMRC is increasingly performing its own checks to determine whether people might need to complete a self-assessment return and pay tax: by reviewing land registry records to look at property
ownership, assessing business records, cross-checking information obtained from banks and looking at information provided by employers.

Anyone who knows they should have prepared a self-assessment return but missed the deadline and anyone who thinks they might have needed to prepare a return but weren’t sure should act now to
minimise the penalties which they could be charged by HMRC.

The staff at Pemberley Accounting possess the knowledge and experience needed to make an accurate assessment of whether a self-assessment return is required.  If one is needed then they can ensure it is completed and submitted quickly and accurately so as to minimise any possible penalties and give you peace of mind.

If you want to know more then call Katy today on 078 105 18812 for your free initial consultation.