Why You Should Never Leave Submitting A Tax Return Until The Last Minute

The end of a tax year ought to be a fantastic moment. Your financial worries should be behind you as you look ahead to a fresh 12 months with a sense of excitement.

But, for most people in the UK, the looming shadow of the Self Assessment deadline brings about enormous panic. They’ve left it too late again… making HMRC penalties a very real possibility.

We’ve spoken to our fair share of stressed taxpayers on deadline day at SimpleTax, and know that fines aren’t the only thing late taxpayers are forced to endure. Here’s why you should never leave submitting a tax return until the last minute…

Climbing costs

The later you leave your tax return, the more it is likely to cost you.

HMRC don’t take too kindly to receiving late submissions, issuing penalties to taxpayers who don’t get their paperwork in on time. However, this isn’t the only unnecessary charge you can be subjected to.

Still using paper forms? Filing on deadline day means you’ll have to fork out for high special delivery postal fees to ensure that the paperwork arrives on time. And even then, there are no guarantees.

Inevitable errors

It’s impossible to be completely accurate when you’re rushed off your feet. Tax returns take time and patience. If you’re flicking through every form as fast as you possibly can, it’s inevitable you’ll end up making some sort of error along the way.

The bad news is that both big and small mistakes can lead to catastrophic problems later down the line. If figures don’t line up, HMRC may come knocking and looking for answers, leading to investigations and perhaps even penalties.

Taxman target

If you send your tax return late or littered with errors (or both), the taxman is going to label you a troublemaker.

In the eyes of HMRC, anyone who submits their tax return at the wrong time without taking the necessary precautions is a risk. And the taxman doesn’t like risks.

One late or incorrect piece of paperwork can render you a target for the taxman for the foreseeable future. Nobody needs that kind of pressure hanging over them.

Wasted time

Because so many people leave their tax return until the final hour, HMRC are inundated with calls and messages in the lead-up to deadline day.

As a result, getting through to customer services to ask a question can take a long time, and you may end up on the phone for hours as you’re bounced around different departments. And what are you supposed to do if you suddenly get disconnected?

When you’ve got more pressing issues to attend to, like running a business, it can seem like a huge waste of your time. Get your tax return done early and contact HMRC with any questions before the mad rush sets in.

Submit your tax return with SimpleTax

As you can see, there are more than a few reasons why you should never leave submitting a tax return until the last minute.

By using SimpleTax to calculate your Self Assessment quickly and easily, you’ll never have to worry about deadline day ever again. Our cloud-based tax return software allows you to record income and expenses on the go, ensuring everything is accounted for and your tax returns at the end of the next financial year are accurate. Best of all, with us you can submit your Self Assessment return online.

Register for your free trial today and bid farewell to tax stress forever.

Blog content is for information purposes and over time may become outdated, although we do strive to keep it current. It's written to help you understand your Tax's and is not to be relied upon as professional accounting, tax and legal advice due to differences in everyone's circumstances. For additional help please contact our support team or HMRC.