Despite the flurry of festive Tax Return filing, more than 11 million Tax Returns for the year ended 5th April 2019 will be filed before the midnight deadline on the 31st January 2020.

The majority of our clients have already submitted, but if you haven’t yet done so or are new to the process, there are some key facts to be aware of:

1. If you’re a new Tax Payer, and are filing for the first time, you will need to register. The codes that HMRC will need to send you to allow you to submit your Tax Return will be sent to you through the post, so make sure you allow time for them to arrive.
2. The HMRC website has historically been unreliable in the final hours leading up to the deadline. To avoid problems in submitting your Return, we would advise submitting before the 28th January if possible.
3. If you have tax to pay, HMRC recommends setting up the payment a minimum of three days before it’s due. If you leave the preparation of your Return too late to get funds to HMRC by the 31st, you may be unable to get your payment to them in time and incur interest charges. You can see all of the ways to make your payment here.
4. If you have tax to pay but are struggling to find the cash to do so, contact HMRC before the 31st and ask to make an arrangement to make payment in stages. They are far more receptive before the due date than afterwards! The contact details for the payment helpline are below:

Telephone: 0300 200 3835
Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm
Saturday, 8am to 4pm

Finally if you’d like to pass the preparation of your Return to us and let someone else worry about it in future, please get in touch!