The 2018 Tax Returns cover the year to 5 April 2018. They will be issued in early April 2018. The deadline for submission is 31 October 2018 (if submitting by paper) or 31 January 2019 (if submitting online). We are always advising clients to get their tax returns, or any filing with HMRC really, done sooner rather than later. Other than the purely selfish reasons that it will help our workflow, why do we do this? The following are some of the more common reasons.
Personal tax returns are issued in April and the deadline for online submission is the following January, when the tax is also due. The sooner you know how much you owe, the sooner you can start saving for it, certain in the knowledge that you know how much you need to save.
If you submit a tax return and you are due a refund, the refund will be issued shortly after submission. Therefore, if you file your return in May, you will get your refund in May. However, if you wait until January, you are leaving your refund with HMRC for a further 8 months. This is jolly nice of you, but does nothing for your bank account.
If you have to make payments on account, payments are due at the end of January and July. If you get your tax return sorted before the end of July, you will side effects of cialis clarify the position and possibly avoid having to make a payment.
Tax credit renewals are due by the end of July, so if you get your tax return sorted, you will be able to use the same figures for the renewal. If you don’t, you can always use estimates, but you run the risks of your current year’s payments being wrong, and possibly continuing to receive more money than you are entitled to.
You may be planning to do your tax return shortly after Christmas, but then get a terrible case of flu which means that you miss the deadline. Is this a reasonable excuse to avoid a late filing penalty? Unfortunately not.
The enquiry window – the length of time which HMRC have to investigate your tax return – used to be 12 months from the end of the filing deadline date. Therefore, early submission used to give HMRC longer to look into your return. This is no longer the case, the enquiry window is now 12 months from the date of submission.
We all feel easier and better knowing that we’ve got a horrible job like completing your tax return out of the way, so why not get it done and enjoy the summer.
So there you are. Several reasons to get on top of your tax affairs, plan your future and enjoy the summer.
(article originally published April 2013, updated April 2018)
