Self-Employed? Don’t Miss The Self Assessment Tax Return Deadline

Self-Employed? Don’t Miss The Self Assessment Tax Return Deadline

If you are self-employed and have relatively simple accounts and your turnover was below £85,000, you need to fill out the SA103S form.

The self-employed are required to complete a Self Assessment tax return before midnight on the 31^st January every year. Here, we explore everything you need to know, helping you submit your tax return before the deadline strikes.

Why do the self-employed need to complete a Self Assessment?

The self-employed must pay money to HMRC like everybody else. The issue is that the taxman can’t track self-employed earnings in quite the same way as others. To establish how much a self-employed worker owes in tax, a Self Assessment form (showing all ins and outs for the financial year) must be completed.

Missing the Self Assessment tax return deadline will result in a £100 initial penalty, which increases by £10 per day thereafter (up to 90 days). You’ll also face interest on unpaid tax. In serious cases where HMRC suspect deliberate tax avoidance, you could even face prosecution in court.

HMRC expect punctual, accurate tax returns – no matter how new you might be to self-employment. That’s why it’s so crucial to understand how to file a Self Assessment tax return before it’s too late.

How to file a Self Assessment tax return

There are a number of different ways to submit a Self Assessment tax return if you’re self-employed.

The first is by post; although the deadline for sending your tax return in this manner has already passed (31^st October). HMRC aren’t keen on the paper format and are actively taking steps to phase this submission method out.

The HMRC online gateway is currently the most popular method of submitting Self Assessments, where users enter earnings through a web form. This too, however, is going to be phased out along with postal returns.

For self-employed workers in the current climate, the best two options for submitting a self-assessment are via an accountant or tax return software. Accountants are knowledgeable and skilled but come at a cost, whilst Self Assessment software is as easy to use as it is affordable, with helpful prompts to guide you through the process.

What’s more, the introduction of Making Tax Digital over the coming years by HMRC is going to put increasing pressure on the self-employed to become tech-savvy. As such, getting started with tax software is going to make the digital switch-over much easier when the initiative is rolled out.

How is SimpleTax software useful for someone self-employed?

With GoSimpleTax, you can hit the Self Assessment tax return deadline and submit an error-free form directly to HMRC that the taxman will look upon kindly. Whether you’re a sole trader, limited company director in receipt of dividends, or you withdraw your income in another manner, it’s never been simpler to submit online.

Utilising cloud-based technology, GoSimpleTax streamlines your submission, flagging up eligible expenses and automatically calculating what you owe. So you can submit your tax return on your desktop, phone or tablet, in as little as 30 minutes.

The Self Assessment tax return deadline is fast approaching, so trial GoSimpleTax today for free. The sooner you see how our tax return software works, the better placed you’ll be to submit an accurate form on time.

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.