How to include tax year 2013/14 into this year's assessment

scrub

I was self-employed but not working from March to September of this year. I'm now back on PAYE as a contractor.
As I didn't earn anything this year when self employed and I'm hoping to stay on PAYE I'd like to just finish all this self asssessment this year but not 100% sure how to do it.

I presume I will have to get my savings details up to a certain cut off date and add those in for this year and expenses but is there anything else I need to consider?

zygurat789

You don't have the power to do what you are seeking. If HMRC send you a tax return you either complete it and seend it back or end up paying lots of fines and penalties.
When you complete your current 12/13 Tax return, due in by 31/01/14. you should complete the section which says what date self-employment ceased and to make doubly sure in the information box at the end of the self employed section tell them you have ceased self employment and now have a PAYE job, quoting your emploers name and reference number.
You would think that after all this they would gat the message but they almost invariably ask for another year's return just to make sure.

nomunnofun

zygurat789 wrote: »

You don't have the power to do what you are seeking. If HMRC send you a tax return you either complete it and seend it back or end up paying lots of fines and penalties.
When you complete your current 12/13 Tax return, due in by 31/01/14. you should complete the section which says what date self-employment ceased and to make doubly sure in the information box at the end of the self employed section tell them you have ceased self employment and now have a PAYE job, quoting your emploers name and reference number.
You would think that after all this they would gat the message but they almost invariably ask for another year's return just to make sure.

I can only suspect that you may have misread the op post. He appears to have ceased self-employment in September 2013. The 2012/13 form asks for the date of cessation if before 6th April 2013.

Unfortunately a return for 2012/13 and 2013/14 will require to be completed.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/sa103s.pdf

jimmo

Rather depends on what you mean when you say.

scrub wrote: »

I was self-employed but not working from March to September of this year.

If you continued to trade from March to September e.g. were actively looking for further work as a sub-contractor, advertised for new business or kept your trading premises open for business then you will have realised a trading loss during 2013/14 and there are a number of possible ways that you could claim tax relief on that.


In which case you will definitely have to complete a 2013/14 Return next year.


On the other hand, if there were no trading activities and no expenses to claim, you could chose to declare that your self-employment ceased on 31 March and declare the cessation date in the 2012/13 Return.


Either way around you are likely to get a Return for the year following the cessation of your self-employment but if you ask HMRC at the time, they may forego it. It seems to be a matter of pot luck whether they will or won’t but its worth a try.


Tax Returns and savings interest are dealt with in tax years so there is no need to do anything special because your self-employment has ceased.

zygurat789

nomunnofun wrote: »

I can only suspect that you may have misread the op post. He appears to have ceased self-employment in September 2013. The 2012/13 form asks for the date of cessation if before 6th April 2013.

Unfortunately a return for 2012/13 and 2013/14 will require to be completed.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/sa103s.pdf

This year is of course 2012/13 especially at this time of year.

It is always important for people to put dates as well as tax code numbers which include ALL the information especially with tax where income arising in very different periods are added together to give taxable income of a tax year.
If this is the casr then just add one year to all dates.

scrub

I haven't technically finished the self-employed business. I started a full-time PAYE contract job in October but I can still have another business running too. I just need to decide when to 'close' the company but there is a chance the contract may cease and I have to find another role so I could keep it open until I'm certain, as far as I'm aware.

So I was actively looking from March to September for any kind of role, contract or permanent.

jimmo

Based on your original post, the reason why you are required to submit annual self assessment Returns is that you are self-employed. So unless you tell HMRC that you have ceased self-employment you will continue to get annual Returns.
There is nothing wrong with telling HMRC that you have ceased to be self-employed and subsequently telling them you have started again if and when you do.
Hopefully your reference to “the company” is a bit of a misunderstanding. If you have a company you are not self-employed. You are a director and shareholder and we need to start again.

scrub

To summarise:
I was a sole trader who's last contract finished 01/03/13. I was unemployed until end of September when I started a PAYE contract via an umbrella company. Between March and September I was looking for work so I incurred costs.
I spoke to HMRC and they said it was possible to extend the date of assessment to include 2013 - 2014. And from what I remember online, it asks you that too.
The only thing I wasn't sure about was tax deductions on savings for the period from April 2013 to Sept 2013. My bank said they can't calculate that until the year end. So, I was wondering if that was something i just need to declare at the start of the next financial year once I know.

Davide123

scrub wrote: »

To summarise:
I was a sole trader who's last contract finished 01/03/13. I was unemployed until end of September when I started a PAYE contract via an umbrella company. Between March and September I was looking for work so I incurred costs.
I spoke to HMRC and they said it was possible to extend the date of assessment to include 2013 - 2014. And from what I remember online, it asks you that too.
The only thing I wasn't sure about was tax deductions on savings for the period from April 2013 to Sept 2013. My bank said they can't calculate that until the year end. So, I was wondering if that was something i just need to declare at the start of the next financial year once I know.

You will have to wait into after 5 April 2014
The cessation period will be on your 2013/14 tax return
Bank interest will be for the whole tax year, 201314

jimmo

scrub wrote: »

I spoke to HMRC and they said it was possible to extend the date of assessment to include 2013 - 2014.

What you seem to be talking about is extending your accounting period and whilst it is possible to do that I am not sure that it is a good idea for someone to try this without the help of an accountant.
Assuming you normally prepared your accounts to 31 March each year then, instead of preparing accounts for the year ended 31 March 2013 you would instead prepare accounts for the 18 months ended 30 September 2013.
In that way you would effectively spread your profits up to 31 March 2013 and your losses form 1 April 2013 over the 18 month period.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/BIM81025.htm
That would reduce your taxable profits for the year 2012/13 but will create taxable profits for 2013/14.
That may, or may not be a good idea depending on your personal circumstances.
Alternatively you could stick with preparing accounts for the year ended 31 March2013 and then prepare a final account for the 6 months to 30 September 2013.
In that way your taxable profits for 2012/13 will remain as they are but you will have a 2013/14 loss for your final period of trading. Under terminal loss relief the 2013/14 loss can be set against your 2012/13 profits.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/BIM85055.htm
As your business has ceased there is nothing to prevent you from preparing your accounts to 30 September 2013 now and claiming terminal loss relief now. You do not have to wait for your 2013/14 Return.
Ideally you still should use an accountant to ensure that your decision is the most tax efficient but if that’s too costly for you I would suggest that claiming terminal loss relief is less complicated than changing your accounting date.
Either way your 2012/13 Return still has to be submitted and you have to pay your 2012/13 tax by 31 January. Changing your accounting date is not an acceptable excuse for a late Return.
You still have a bit of time to decide, but not much.