Self Assessment Tax Returns

Close up of of hands using a calculator and holding a tax receipt.

First of All, Why is it Called Self Assessment?

Basically, it’s because it’s your responsibility to know if you need to file a self assessment tax return or not. It is also your responsibility to know if you don’t need to file one — and to tell HMRC. It’s also your responsibility to know what needs to be included in your tax return. And it’s your responsibility to know how much tax and National Insurance you need to pay.

Hopefully you’re getting the general idea here. It’s all on you.

You can, however, pay someone (us) to do it for you. But even if you do, you’re still legally responsible for its contents. If that doesn’t seem very fair, you’re probably right — which is why you must choose your accountant wisely.

Why Might You Need to File Self Assessment Tax Returns?

There are several reasons why you might need to file a self assessment tax return (also called an SA100). Here are the most common reasons we see:

  1. You are self-employed
  2. You are a partner or member of an LLP
  3. You receive dividend income
  4. You receive interest from your savings which is not covered by your savings allowance
  5. You have income from a property you rent out — like a flat or maybe an industrial unit
  6. You’ve sold something you own like shares or a property (not normally the one you live in, but it can happen)
  7. Your remuneration pack includes an employee share scheme

Sometimes HMRC will have information that leads them to think you need to file a return. In which case they’ll issue you with a notice to file. Don’t ignore it just because you don’t think you need to file. You can have the notice removed — but it must be dealt with properly. Failing to file a return leads to penalties that start at £100 but soon ramp up to thousands.

How We Can Help You

If you trust your return to us, this is what you’ll get back:

  1. We send you a checklist of all the different types of income and gains you might need to report. It’s really easy to forget something or not even realise that it’s relevant
  2. You’ll receive a list of the documents that you need to give us. We don’t use an interpretation, it has to be the source document where possible
  3. We’ll prepare your return and check that it makes sense, given everything we know about you. If we have questions or need more information we’ll call or email you
  4. Every return is reviewed by another accountant with a fresh pair of eyes
  5. We send you your return for electronic approval, giving you the chance to ask any questions you have. You should always fully understand what you’re sending to HMRC
  6. After you’ve signed your return, we will submit it directly and send you the filing confirmation
  7. Once it has been filed, we will tell you how to pay any tax you owe to HMRC. We will also track your payment to make sure it gets correctly allocated to your account. Likewise, we’ll track for any in-year payments on account. If you’re due a repayment, we will also make sure you get it. And, if necessary, we’ll follow it up with HMRC until the money is back in your bank account.

HMRC Enquiries

Once you have appointed us, we will handle any questions HMRC has about your tax affairs. And if they open a formal enquiry, we will act on your behalf. If this should happen, as one of our clients, you’ll benefit from a fee protection service. This means that there is no additional charge for any work to represent you in an enquiry.

The fee protection service is provided at no extra cost to all of our clients.

Under normal circumstances, HMRC has one year to open an enquiry into your tax return. But what if they can show that you were careless in how you filled it out? Or that you deliberately left something out or misrepresented something? This gives them more time and they can go further back. If they can show that you didn’t provide enough information for an inspector to have known they should ask you about something, this also would allow them more time.

Three Reasons Why We’re Great at Filing Self Assessment Tax Returns

  1. Our processes make it less likely that your return will have missing or wrong information in the first place
  2. We manage the relationship with HMRC. From the practical side of actually getting hold of them to understanding how to give sufficient and appropriate information
  3. We have spent years acquiring the knowledge required to save you money. We will save you tax wherever we can, and you’ll know you’re paying the right tax at the right time

You don’t have to do this on your own. We’re here to guide you through it properly, so nothing’s missed, nothing’s rushed, and nothing’s left to chance. Our office is in Horsham in West Sussex, but we file self assessment tax returns for clients throughout the South-East. Call us today on 01403 780858, send us an email or fill in our form.