Filling in SA form - lost bank statements!

road-runner15

Hi,

My online SA form is 95% complete, apart from the box which requires me to give details of foreign bank interest. I had a few bank accounts in Spain and stupidly forgot to note down how much interest I was paid during the 2010-2011 tax year.

The statements from the accounts are languishing somewhere in an absolutely massive pile of papers at home in the UK, and I'm currently away til late Feb. I can't really ask my parents to root out the relevant statements and post them to me because the statements are all in Spanish and my parents won't be able to work out which ones are the relevant ones. I don't want them to post me the whole pile of papers because a) it's huge and b) there are other important docs in there that I wouldn't want to risk getting lost/intercepted.

I could order duplicate statements from the Spanish banks but I doubt I'd get them before 31st Jan since these are both old accounts that I've closed.

I don't think the interest was even that much - maybe 100 euro at the very most.

So my question is - do I give a generous estimate on the SA form and write in the white space at the end of the form that I promise to send HMRC the actual figures when I can dig them out in a few weeks?

Or would it be better to just overestimate the interest I've earned and put that figure on the SA form?

Thanks!

ManicMum

I think you can go back to your tax return at a later date and amend it. I did this last year when I was given a flat rate expenses amount for washing uniform at home. They told me to go back in and amend it myself. I think I would over-estimate or near as I could to what you think the correct amount is, not say anything to them, and then just amend at a later date. Does anyone else agree that this is acceptable?

It's not worth you getting £100 fine for a few quid.

BoGoF

There should be a box saying some of the figures are provisional, tick that and do as suggested, err on the high side though and amend it later.

ManicMum

Hello

we sold our BTL in May 2010. So only I month of rent and expenses to worry about there for 10/11 tax return. However, when we worked out rental income less mortgage payment, less wear and tear, etc, we are into minus figures. This is due to last whole month's rent cheque being 1st April 2010 so that went into 2009/10 and only £187 rent being taken for part of May 2010/11.

We then sold property but can we offset any of that minus income figure against any other income for 2010/11 or is that lost forever now?

Thanks

BoGoF

A new thread needed perhaps....but in a word, yes.

ManicMum

what the heck did I do there? My hubby driving me mad with SA questions, I can't concentrate!

Sorry to OP - no intentional hijack meant there!

road-runner15

No problem! Thanks for the info!

road-runner15

Just in case this helps anyone - I checked and after I've submitted the tax return I can amend it online until Jan 2013.

Pennywise

road-runner15 wrote: »

Just in case this helps anyone - I checked and after I've submitted the tax return I can amend it online until Jan 2013.

Yes, but you still have to tick the box to say that it contains provisional figures, and HMRC would expect you to revise it as soon as possible. The one year amendment window is for correcting mistakes etc. If you don't submit a correcting return with your accurate bank interest as soon as practicable, HMRC could well decide that your tax return wasn't submitted properly and charge you late filing penalties. HMRC also often open enquiries after 3 months or so into "estimated" returns to force the taxpayer to come up with the accurate figures. So basically, it's still urgent to get the figures and get the tax return correction submitted - don't rely on the one year window as that's for general corrections of mistakes, etc., not a one year window to submit information that was originally estimated.