Tax deadline and registration help!

MBAI

Hi

I was wondering if anyone could answer this question/s for me:

I recently registered (late) self employed in order to declare some earnings that I made in 2008-9. This was on 6th January and I am now awaiting a UTR in order to complete my registration for online self-assessment. I’ve just been told that I probably will not receive this before 31st January, so I’m now panicking that I’m going to be fined for not declaring and paying the tax on my earnings in time.

Just to clarify, I’m in full-time employment paid via PAYE, but did a small amount of work (£800 over the year) on a casual basis, so the tax amounts to <£200.

Is there any way I can avoid a fine for late declaration/payment? As far as I can see my mistake was registering late, but it seems pretty unfair that I cannot do anything to avoid a fine due to the processing times on UTRs…

Thanks a million in advance for any help/suggestions.

PlutoinCapricorn

There is not much that you can do until your UTR comes. It is a pain to rely on the post for this, but HMRC do say do everything in good time.

If I were in your position, I would get my P60 ready, also details of any other income not from self employment e.g. interest on savings. I would also be prepared to pay by direct transfer from my bank account.

I would also think of any legitimate expenses that could be used to reduce the tax payable on the £800. Did you do the work at home? Did you buy any stationery? If you can think of anything that you bought that you would not have done without this work, or used extra of such as heating and lighting, you could include them. Are you planning to build up this business, or was it a one-off? If you hope to carry on, then startup costs can be included even if this means that you have made a loss.

I think that the less tax you owe, the lower the penalties and interest for paying late. If you can find a good reason for late registration then you may not need to pay this penalty either.

MBAI

Thanks for that!

I've got all of the paperwork ready to go as you advised - it's just incredibly frustrating knowing I'm going to get fined for something when I would happily go to the tax office in person and hand over the monies due and submit the paperwork afterwards. What's more frustrating is knowing that it is ultimately my fault...

Does anyone know whether I would stand a chance arguing that this payment is late due to their processing time rather than my late registration? I have given them a month to process the information after all...

minxtress

Further to this, I have been given my utr, and was going to fill inmy online assesment today....I am getting a full rewire though and cant find the utr....can I ring them to get them to give it to me or will they want to send it in the post?

suso

minxtress wrote: »

Further to this, I have been given my utr, and was going to fill inmy online assesment today....I am getting a full rewire though and cant find the utr....can I ring them to get them to give it to me or will they want to send it in the post?

It will have to go in the post, they won't divulge that information over the phone.

cosyc

Don't wait.
Now you have your UTR you can pay the tax before you have even filed your tax retrun. So estimate an amount to cover it, say £200 Go to https://www.billpayment.co.uk/hmrc/scripts/index.asp then when you fill in SA Ret if youhave expenses put them in - there is a box asking if you want a refund tick yes.

You will also need to apply for an
Exceptions to paying Class 2 National Insurance contributions
If you earn less than £5,075 per year you can apply for a certificate of small earnings exception and not pay Class 2 National Insurance contributions.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/cf10.pdf
Otherwise need to pay NIC at £2.05 per week