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The due date for your upcoming self-assessment tax return to be completed for the tax year 6 April 2021 to 5 April 2022 (2021/22) is January 31st 2023. Filing your self-assessment tax return on time is crucial and you may have to pay interest and a penalty if you file it too late. It is, therefore, best to submit it as early as possible. 

If you are seeking guidance from an accountant, be sure to have all the relevant information to hand, for it to be completed smoothly. Information required to complete your self-assessment tax return can be split into income-related information, tax relief-related information and other relevant miscellaneous information.

Income

Employment 
You should have a P60 or P45 form for every employment held during the tax year. These forms are issued by your employer(s) and detail your taxable income and tax deduction for the tax year. While these forms are similar, they differ in when they're issued and the student loan information deduction information included:
  • P60 is issued at the end of the tax year (April 5th) and will include any student loan deductions made.
  • P45 is issued when you leave a job during a tax year and does not include any student loan deductions made, so you will need to provide your payslips for the year.

Your employer may also issue you with a P11D form at the end of the tax year if you have received any taxable benefits that aren't on your payslip. Your employer needs to provide this by July 6th following the end of the tax year. You may be given two P11Ds if you had two jobs during the year. Examples of benefits provided by employers include
  • Company cars;
  • Loans for rail season tickets;
  • Other loans;
  • Health insurance;
  • Assets provided to an employee that has significant personal use;
  • Self Assessment fees paid by the company;
  • Non-business travel expenses; and
  • Non-business entertainment expenses.

Bank Interest
You should be issued a statement from your bank (for every bank account you have) showing the amount of interest you received for the tax year. You can also add up the amount of interest you received for each month of the year. The total amount of interest you received for the year should be paid with no tax deducted. This does not include non-taxable interest information (e.g. from cash ISAs, premium bond receipts or interest from NS&I tax-free products, namely Fixed Interest Savings Certificates and Index-linked Savings Certificates).

Dividends 
You need to provide your accountant with dividend vouchers for the tax year if you hold personal Investments, even those contained within an ISA. Any dividends received as a limited company director will also need to be considered for the tax return.

Pension
The relevant documents should be given to your accountant if you receive state or private pensions.
State pensions are paid every 4 weeks. You should receive an annual letter from HMRC explaining how much the pension is increasing, which you need to provide with this document. You can alternatively provide bank statements showing the 4-week period payment figures for your state pension during the year.  
You should be given a P60 for private pensions which you can give to your accountant.

Other Income
If you have sold any shares or other assets during the tax year, you will need to provide your accountant with information relating to Capital Gains, ie what you sold, when it was sold and how much it was sold for, as well as the purchase date, price and all other costs relevant to the asset.

If you are a UK resident, you'll need to provide details of Foreign Income you've received during the tax year including any foreign taxes you have paid.

If there is any Other Income you receive, discuss it with your accountant to ensure it is included on your tax return.

Relief 


Work-Related Expenses

You can claim tax relief for both employment and self-employment business expenses you've incurred. Employment expenses include:

  • Business travel mileage - provide your accountant with the number of business miles travelled and the rate your employer reimbursed you. The tax rate per business mile is as follows:
  • Cars and vans - 45p (first 10,000 miles), 25p (> 10,000 miles).
  • Motorcycles - 24p.
  • Bikes - 20p.
  • Clothing - you can find out what flat rate expenses you can claim for uniforms and tools, as well as cleaning-related allowances;
  • Entertainment - business-related entertainment with a cost per head under £150;
  • Capital allowances, eg machinery or business-related fixtures; and
  • Professional subscriptions - any memberships held to a professional body, which you'll need to provide proof of payment for (bank statement, invoice).


You can also check out our blog all about work-related expenses you can claim if you're self-employed and work from home.


Pension Contributions

You can claim tax relief for any personal pension schemes you contribute to, so long as you can provide:

  • The name of the provider;
  • Your contract/membership number;
  • The amounts of the contributions;
  • The dates of the contributions.


Your company can also arrange two types of pension contribution schemes on your behalf

  • Before-tax contribution - referred to as 'net pay' in your pension documents; you'll only need to provide your accountant with information if you've exceeded the pension threshold and you would have already received full tax relief on these contributions.
  • After-tax contribution - referred to as ‘relief at source' in your pension documents; you'll need to provide your accountant with your payslips for the full tax year as you may be able to claim additional tax relief on these contributions.


Your most recent payslip can be given to your accountant should need further guidance as to which arrangement your company uses.


SEIS/EIS

You should be able to claim tax relief if you invest in an Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS/SEIS). If you do invest in an EIS/SEIS, HMRC should give you a certificate (form SEIS3) for each investment, which you need to give your accountant (as well as any further details related to the investment, but this can be discussed with your accountant on a case-by-case basis).


Charitable Giving

If you are a higher-rate taxpayer who has made donations to a qualifying charity and claimed gift aid, you may be able to claim additional tax relief if you can provide your accountant with the following information:

  • Charity name
  • Donation date
  • Donation amount
  • Gift aid claimed (yes/no)


We would advise you to log in to your just giving account and print out your past donations to make it even easier for both you and your accountant.


Other Information


Change in Circumstances 

Your records need to be updated if you have had a change in/to your:

  • Name;
  • Marital status;
  • Address; and
  • Number of dependents.


Tax Code 

Any tax coding notices given to you by HMRC during the tax year should be given to your accountant.


Marriage Allowance 

You can save £200 in tax if one spouse is below the higher rate threshold (£50,000 for the tax year 2020/21) and the other spouse is below the personal allowance (£12,500 for 2020/21). You will need to provide your partner’s details, name, national insurance number & date of marriage in order to claim marriage allowance.


Pension Contribution Thresholds 

You can contribute up to £40,000 a year into a pension scheme for tax relief purposes, so long as you have less than £110,000 of taxable income per year.


You will need to give your accountant the details of your pension contributions (employer and employee) for the current year as well as the three previous years (you should be able to bring forward unused allowances) if you earn more than £110,000. Your pension providers should send you annual statements.

Timeline 


Below is a handy timeline of important upcoming dates you need to know for filing your self-assessment tax return (the timeline is in relation to the tax year 2021/22, however, the dates can be applied to future tax years):

  • April 5th 2022 - end of 2020/21 tax year.*
  • April 6th to July 31st 2022 - this is the best time to provide your accountant with your 2021/22 records.*
  • July 31st 2022 - second payment on account for 2021/22.*
  • December 31st 2022 - deadline for the tax to be paid through PAYE
  • January 31st 2023 - tax return deadline for 2021/22 tax return; balancing payment for 2021/22 & first payment on account for 2022/23.

* = this is a date relating to the tax year 2021/22 that has already passed as of when this blog post was written and published


If you need any more guidance or have any more questions when it comes to filing your self-assessment tax return for the tax year 2021/22 next month (as well as for future tax years), do get in touch with us for a free 30-minute consultation by calling us at 07762657277.