The 2019/20 tax year has ended.

That news might almost come as a surprise.

I mean, amidst all the upheaval we’ve been experiencing since the outbreak of coronavirus, I wouldn’t blame you if you forgot.

But 5^th April came and went and despite all that’s going on, it’s now time to start thinking about completing your self-assessment.

Obviously, with so many self-employed and small business owners facing enormous financial challenges right now, thinking about your tax return won’t be high on your priority list…

At the same time, the last thing you want to do is miss one of the key dates and end up being fined.

Plus, if you’re already registered with HMRC and are due to pay the second instalment of your ‘payment on account’ – there is some good news, which I’ll get to shortly.

In fact, to fill you in with the details and make sure you don’t run the risk of getting caught out by HMRC while you’re focused on keeping your business afloat…

Let’s quickly run through some of the things you need to make sure you do now so you’re not in a panic later in the year.

collect together documentation

First thing you can be doing right now is collecting together all the documentation you’ll need to complete your tax return.

This is often the most time-consuming aspect of any tax return and – if you’ve not kept on top of your receipts and expenses during the year – it can be laborious.

As you’ll see in a moment, you do have time before you need to submit your self-assessment return, so don’t feel like you need to do everything at once – especially with so many other pressures on you right now.

But it’s a good idea to start organising things together, ideally in date order, and start building up your supporting file.

This will help you enormously when it comes to actually filling in your actual tax return.

consult where needed

Never before has it been so important to seek advice if you’re unsure what to do about a return.

The ongoing impact of coronavirus is presenting us with some unprecedented challenges and, right now, nothing is normal.

New information is released on an almost daily basis and the government are still tweaking and changing the different elements of support they’re offering to self-employed and small businesses.

We’re posting regular updates as we learn more, so be sure to keep checking the news section on our website…

And you’ll also find a fair amount of guidance on there already.

You can click here to scroll through our advice.

One good thing, as I mentioned earlier, is that HMRC have said you can delay the second ‘payment on account’ that would usually be due by 31^st July.

This ‘payment on account’ is the estimated tax due based on your earnings last year.

The current advice is that the payment can be deferred until any time before midnight on 31^st January 2021.

But do bear in mind this is a deferment and NOT a complete waving of the monies due. You’ll still need to pay it before the extended deadline.

The aim of deferring the payment is to help the self-employed and small businesses with cash flow and on that front, there is more you can do if it’s a problem.

The best thing to do if cash flow is a concern is contact us here at Appleleaf to talk about your specific problems and we’ll talk to you about how we could help.

As always, you can contact us through the website here

make note of important dates

Aside from collecting together the documentation you’ll need to support your self-assessment and keeping a check on the latest advice from the Government…

You also need to make a note of the key deadlines for this year.

First, if you’re not already registered to complete a self-assessment but are planning on doing one…

You need to register with HMRC before 5^th October 2020.

The next date to think about – if you’re planning on completing a paper return – is the 31^st October 2020.

Remember, this is the deadline for PAPER tax returns.

If you’re planning to complete your tax return ONLINE, you do have longer.

The deadline to submit online returns this year is by midnight 31^st January 2021.

And that is the same deadline you have to actually pay the tax you owe for the 2019/20 tax year.

It’s still staggering how many people in the UK miss the various deadlines and end up being fined, so pop those into your diary or mark them on your phone – you don’t want to be paying a penny more to the taxman than you need to.

we are here to help

Having worked as an accountant all my life, I’m only too aware that dealing with self-assessments and tax returns can be stressful at the best of times…

But whilst so many self-employed and small business owners are facing such uncertainty…

I know the challenge right now is even harder.

It’s why, here at Appleleaf, we’re here to help wherever possible.

We’re already doing all we can for our current clients to make sure they understand the best way to navigate the coronavirus crisis financially and still keep on top of their accounting.

We’d love to help you too.

If you would like to discuss any matter relating to completing your self-assessment tax return for 2019/20 and would like our support to make things a whole lot easier, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Though our main office is closed right now due to government lockdown advice, we are working from home and keeping things running as close to normal as possible.

As ever, we are here to help and you can contact us through the website here.

Dealing with your tax and accounts isn’t something anyone wants to be doing while all this is happening, so I would encourage you to get in touch and see how we could help relieve some of the stress.

Matthew Portess (FCCA)

Director