how to declare survey vouchers on tax return

susie81

Unless you tell them that you don't receive it. You should get a coding notice through the post if you have something different to the normal personal allowance. It's extremely easy to ring up and ask them to remove something from the coding. A couple of minutes at the most (provided you're not in a queue of course).

You can pretty much ask for anything like other income to be removed from your coding notice saying you want to be taxed on it via your return - gives you a cashflow advantage as well. They try and code things to get the tax quicker. The only thing you can't really take out is valid employer benefits that go on a form P11D.

AnthN09

There is also the option on your tax return for any tax you owe or may owe, to not affect your tax codes, simply put an X in boxes 2 or 3 or both on page 5 of the return.

susie81

Just to clarify the above, the box on the tax return in relation to tax codes relates to how they collect the tax you owe NOT including your other income on a future tax coding.

If your resulting tax liability for a tax year (after completing a return) is less than £2,000 you can elect that you pay it by your tax code for a future year being adjusted to collect the tax due rather than you paying it in one lump sum on 31 January. If you ask them to collect the tax due via your tax code it is actually a further cashflow advantage as instead of paying your 08/09 tax on 31 January 2010 it will actually be collected via your 2010/2011 tax code.

Therefore overall, you should make sure that there is no adjustment in your current tax code for other income as you want to prepare a return (this will stop them collecting too much tax in advance), but if your tax liability at the end of the year is less than £2,000 elect for it to be collected through you coding notice as this will the defer the payment of tax on your income even longer.

It should be clear in a tax coding notice which is the adjustment for collecting tax on other income early and which is the adjustment for collecting tax due from a previous tax year.

AnthN09

susie81 wrote: »

Just to clarify the above, the box on the tax return in relation to tax codes relates to how they collect the tax you owe NOT including your other income on a future tax coding.

If your resulting tax liability for a tax year (after completing a return) is less than £2,000 you can elect that you pay it by your tax code for a future year being adjusted to collect the tax due rather than you paying it in one lump sum on 31 January. If you ask them to collect the tax due via your tax code it is actually a further cashflow advantage as instead of paying your 08/09 tax on 31 January 2010 it will actually be collected via your 2010/2011 tax code.

Therefore overall, you should make sure that there is no adjustment in your current tax code for other income as you want to prepare a return (this will stop them collecting too much tax in advance), but if your tax liability at the end of the year is less than £2,000 elect for it to be collected through you coding notice as this will the defer the payment of tax on your income even longer.

It should be clear in a tax coding notice which is the adjustment for collecting tax on other income early and which is the adjustment for collecting tax due from a previous tax year.

Would you agree that generally the best options to take would be to leave box 2 blank, so as to delay paying any tax owed for 08/09, providing under £2,000 of course, and to X box 3 so that they don't collect any tax you might owe (on other income) for 09/10 on your 09/10 tax code?

susie81

Yes that's right. That's the best for taxpayers I'd say. Keeps the money in your pocket longer. But make sure they don't adjust your tax code anyway - HMRC have been known to make mistakes!

susie81

So for anyone that doesn't understand it all: by leaving box 2 empty and ticking box 3 on page 5 of the tax return each year, you can (as an example) defer paying tax on estimated other income received during 2009/2010 in 2009/2010 to in fact paying tax on actual other income received during 2011/2012 by having it deducted from your employment income in 2011/2012.

A deferment of two years for paying tax and it will be based on actual not estimated other income.

You have to make sure you tick the boxes each year though for it to keep applying.