Could a Self-Assessment tax refund help pay for Christmas costs on your Credit Card OR will Penalties for late submission wipe out the refund? The expression being an Ostrich and sticking your head in the sand comes to mind. Even if you don’t have a tax refund due to you, the Penalties will make the pain of the tax due even worse.
Contrary to popular belief an Ostrich does not actually bury its head in the sand as it would leave them defenceless to attack. It does however bury its eggs to keep them safe, but will usually run away or attack with supremely powerful legs if challenged.
Make a New Year’s resolution for 2020 to stop procrastinating or fearing tax. The deadline for submitting your 2019 Tax Return online to HM Revenue & Customs is 31 January 2020, the latest deadline for Brexit.
Failure to submit your Tax Return by 31 January 2020 will incur a £100 penalty which will automatically escalate to at least £1,300 for continued failure regardless of whether any tax is actually due.
So how could you turn reduce your tax liability or even turn it into a tax refund?
- Claim tax relief for your pension contributions.
- If your employer pays you mileage below the HMRC approved mileage rate of 45p per mile you can claim tax relief on the difference.
- Do you pay any professional subscriptions personally for your job? Make sure you are getting relief either on a return or a stand-alone claim
- There are flat rate allowances for various occupations including uniform allowances for most public service workers as well as many others.
- Claim tax relief on Gift Aid contributions also obtain additional tax relief for donations paid
- Have you claimed all the expenditure you can on a let property? From replacing boilers to insurance on white goods in the property and mileage claims on trips to check on the property?
If you really still can’t face completing your 2019 Tax Return ask us for assistance sooner rather than later to prevent interest or penalties arising. As mentioned above you may even be entitled to a tax repayment to help pay off that post-Christmas credit card bill!
Contact the professionals to discuss ways to legally mitigate the taxes you own and stay on the right side of HM Revenue & Customs by fulfilling your filing obligations by calling us on 01473659777 or email Mandy@beatons.co.uk to arrange a meeting.