Cutting tax

My dad died on Boxing Day 2019. My Mum received a small lump sum from his civil service pension dated 3/4/19. Instead of putting into last year’s tax year they have put it into this year’s, causing my 88 year old mum to pay tax on it, which she wouldn’t of if it was in last year. I have contacted both the tax office and…

Today I submitted my self assessment return for 20025/26 but received the message "A problem occurred when you sent your return" Logged back in later this morning saw "There was a problem and your return was not submitted. We have saved it automatically and you can submit it again by clicking Next" I clicked on next but…

Hi there, I need to complete an SA109 and on paper the questions seem straight forward but when I read the guidance notes it provides twists and turns with an exception for an exception and I am now genuinly confused. It is about a split year case 1 claim. Especially box 9 - 14 throw me off. I know that to answer those…

I am a PAYE employee (not self employed) and have a UTR number from doing a self assessment a few years back (2023-24) but did not need to do one for the tax year 2024-25. I now need to do one for 2025-26 so I have followed the steps here https://www.gov.uk/register-for-self-assessment and after completing the form I…

I am about to finish my tax assessment (I am self employed), but I've found a question which baffles me. I am self employed and the past year I received rental income from abroad. This is the question; I've already entered my foreign income section listing my rental income. But this is asking me if I have income from UK…

Can someone please explain gift aid in regards to how may/may not effect me. I've even read the gift aid section on this site but I'm still not fully 'getting it' I've had a email from a charity I gave some donations to, never had one before, I thought it was just going to say, your donations have raised X amount thanks…

I'm trying understand if I can reduce my net adjusted income (the figure that needs to be below £100,000), by leasing a car through a workplace salary sacrifice scheme with Octopus EV. Currently I've worked my net adjusted income for the current tax year will look like: + £80,500 Salary + £17500 Annual Bonus + £9000 worth…

Hello, I submitted my self assessment online via FreeAgent a few months ago but it’s not been processed by HMRC. I’ve spoken to a few agents and they tell me that it needs to be manually captured as there was an issue with some of the data that came across (although they cannot see which data is causing the problems).…

Several years ago, my parents said that they were adding me to their shared bank accounts. Their motivations for this at the time were two-fold, one consideration was around providing a larger FSCS compensation coverage (which at the time was £75k per account holder) and the second was as part of estate planning, where…

Hi, just after some advice please as I've never claimed anything back tax relief wise. As a support worker I use my own car to transport clients to appointments and receive 45p a mile from my employer. Also, would I be able to claim anything back for needing to have business car insurance? I was just wondering if anyone…

In 2025/26 my savings interest was more that what was estimated on my tax code notice. I will be paying the extra tax via the self assessment calculation plus payments on account for 2026/27. For 2026/27 HMRC used the same amount of expected interest and I anticipate it may be an unestimate again. Do this mean it is likely…

I have been searching the forums for some answers but I sill have some uncertainties. Having recently put together a spreadsheet to calculate any potential IHT payable I was horrified at the result. I have been supporting our children for some years with monthly standing orders. My question is clarifying what counts as…

I need a sense check, please. I'm recently retired (just £1k-£2k earned income for another couple of years) and SP starts in two years. For years I have maxed SIPP contributions and now have about £660k in it. I want to run down my SIPP in future years (withdrawing the max in basic rate, using it for income/ISA/low coupon…

Hello I have a question regarding Marriage, tax allowance for my elderly parents. My mother has given her allowance to my father, they are both state pensioners and both retired. I mother has gotten a simple tax assessment from HRMC which she owes tax back to them for £130.91. Due to giving her allowance to my father. My…

Hi, I'm so confused, and more so after an unhelpful call to HMRC. I've always earned below the threshold to pay back child benefit, but last year (tax year ended april 26) due to a one-off bonus my earnings were over £80k so I understand I'll have to pay it all back (claiming for 3 kids). This year my earnings will be back…

In ‘24 I completed a self assessment for 23/24 which included PAYE pay and pension as I retired in Nov ‘23. (No other taxable income). The calculation was in my favour and a repayment of £250 was credited, which I took as a cheque and I informed HMRC that I didn’t need to complete self assessment for the following year. I…

Background…I'm employed and work for a company, own a rental and alongside this myself and a friend setup a company several years ago which we were both setup as directors. Fast forward this company made a bit of money which went into the company account we never took a wage from it. We now have closed down the company in…

I’ve been claiming Child Benefit to collect National Insurance credits. A few years ago, my wife’s salary went over the threshold for the High-Income Child Benefit Charge. We registered her for Self-Assessment and began paying the charge each year. Her salary has since increased to the point where we now repay the full…

My 2024/25 was calculated and submitted by a tax accountant ( too scared to do the first one). I forgot to give her my gift aid amount that I made during that year. I'm doing self assessment for 2025/26 and when I got to the gift aid section it reminded me I hadn't included gift aid on 2024/25 return. I have been reading…

Hi, How much Tax will I have to pay when I do self-assessment for working as a Sole Trader? In Tax Year 2025-2026 I was payed £2538 at one company (As a Sole Trader) , and was payed £6160 at another company (Also as a Sole Trader). How much Tax will I have to pay? (roughly) In the same year, all my other employment was…