Once again, we’re hurtling towards the end of another financial year. The 6th April and the start of another will be here again shortly, so it’s Personal Tax Return time!

If we prepare your Personal Tax Return for you, NOW is the time to get ahead and send us your information as it hits your door mat or inbox. Rather than filing it away to wait for the last piece of the puzzle, why not pop it over to us now? We’ll compile everything as it arrives, and it’ll be one less thing for you to worry about…

What information do we need?

Your Personal Tax Return should include details of ALL worldwide income in the year to 5th April 2024, which may include:

1. Income from employments (even if you’re a director without any income from that company)
   
   
2. Self Employment – If you’re a Sole Trader, we’ll need to prepare accounts for you, which then feed into your Personal Tax Return. Your accounts year end may not be 5th April, so if you’re unsure what dates we need the information for, please check with us. If you have expenses that relate to other income declared, include those too and we’ll let you know what can be claimed.
   
   
3. Business Partnerships – If you’re a Partner, this income information will come from your Partnership Accounts and Tax Return which we’ll prepare for you.
   
   
4. Capital Gains
   1. Details of the sale of any assets – e.g. shares, a second property, your Principal Private Residence.
   2. We’ll need the original cost and purchase date.
   3. Details of the expenditure on any enhancements – e.g. extension costs.
   4. Details of any associated costs, eg Estate Agent & Solicitor fees, broker fees.
5. Pensions
   1. Amounts shown on P60s as they arrive.
   2. State pension – a copy or the figures from your annual statement.
6. Property – Including furnished or unfurnished rental properties or holiday lets.
   1. Rental income – details of the gross amounts received i.e. before deductions for agents fees.
   2. Details of all expenses incurred on loans used to purchase properties or secured on them.
   3. Refurbishment costs, though treatment of these will depend on what they relate to, so we’ll need that information as well please.
7. Interest Amounts 
   1. Most interest is now paid gross, but please include the details from the interest certificate you’ll receive if any tax has been deducted.
   2. Details of whether it’s an individual or joint account.
8. Child Benefit – If anyone in your household earns over £50,000 per year, the Child Benefit is clawed back so we need to know the amounts of Child Benefit received into your household for the year ended 5th April 2024 please. (This amount will increase to £60,000, but only for the year ending 5th April 2025.)
   
   
9. Income from Trusts – Please let us have the details from form R185, which certifies how much income you’ve received in the year ended 5th April 2024 and any tax that’s been deducted.
   
   

Reliefs – reductions of tax against income detailed above:

1. Details of any charitable donations made where a declaration has been signed to confirm you pay tax – Gift Aid
2. Personal Pension Contributions – extends your basic rate band.

This list is not exhaustive, but is intended as a thought-starter. Please include any or all income you have received in the year, and remember to include any new sources of income this year over last.

Download our Personal Tax Return checklist below:

How to send us the information…

Using the list above, and last year’s Personal Tax Return as a prompt, please collect all of the details that are relevant to you. Remember to add any new sources of income, for example new savings accounts, income streams etc.

If you’d like a list of the information we included in last year’s Return, please let us know. These can often be a helpful prompt.

There are several ways to get the information to us:

• Scan copies into an electronic folder and share it with us, ideally using the Document Transfer system on the website and our email and website footers.
• Collate the figures onto a spreadsheet or a list and send it to us through the Document Transfer system.
• Collect all of the paperwork into an envelope and post it to us. If you’d prefer to take this route, we’d recommend that you send us copies and keep the originals safely.

Do we need proof of the figures?

No!

We don’t need to see the original paperwork, but if HMRC should ask for evidence of the information in your Personal Tax Return, you’ll need to be able to provide it. It’s therefore a good idea to keep it all together in case it’s needed, either in paper or electronic formats. You must also retain this information for six full tax years from the 31st January 2025 filing deadline, which is the period during which HMRC can enquire into the submitted Return.

What is it a good idea to get your Return done early?

There are actually at least NINE reasons why it makes sense to get your Return prepared and submitted as soon as possible, as follows:

1. You can get any refund into your bank account, not HMRC’s!
2. You can plan for any tax you have to pay in good time.
3. You can take any opportunity to reduce July’s Payment on Account. If your income this year is lower than it was last year, you may not need to pay as much in July.
4. You won’t run the risk of filing any relevant paperwork away somewhere too safe…
5. There’s less chance to forget what you did last year.
6. It gives us more chance to consider your affairs and suggest ways to reduce any liability. Some of these can affect the current year as well, before we get too far into it.
7. We don’t have a team so need the paperwork by the 31st July to ensure we can factor the work into our usual schedule. If it arrives after that we may charge you a premium in addition to the agreed fee.
8. You can avoid the penalties and stress of leaving it later, and having it hanging over your head as a ‘to do’ right through until January.
9. You won’t receive our chasing emails or calls as the deadline approaches… 😊

As above, once you’ve gathered everything together, you can post us the original paperwork, or copies, or pop the information into an email. The most secure way to send us everything though is through our Document Exchange , which you can also access through the link on our email footers or the footer of any page of this site, which may be easier to find once you’ve navigated away from this post!

As ever, we’ll send Personal Tax Return reminders for the information at various times during the year, but would be very grateful to receive as much information as possible, as early as possible please.

If you’ve got any questions or concerns about what you need to include, please get in touch. The list above may not be exhaustive, so we’ll very happily talk you through what we need as it relates to your circumstances.