Self assessment for dummies?

bouicca21

My working life was spent on PAYE. I'm now retired and paid a pension through PAYE, but have been earning a very small amount from royalties (current tax year). So I need to do a self assessment for the extra income. I've no idea where to start, or what kind of expenses I can claim, especially as the expenses were mostly incurred in the previous tax year.

I need an idiot's guide, can board members direct me to one? I'd get an accountant but the extra income is only a few hundred and an accountant would probably cost more than that!

agrinnall

If your pension income is high enough for you to be paying tax on it the easiest option may be to contact HMRC to see if they can adjust your tax code to take into account the additional income. I'm not sure if that would work if you want to claim expenses though (although as the income is from royalties I'm not sure what your expenses would be - what are the royalties for?).

badmemory

If you are talking the current tax year as you said then you have almost (well actually over but better not to leave it that late) a year to sort this. Have you got a UTR number? If this is going to be a one off then you probably won't even need that. Just a phone call should sort that.

Claiming expenses would depend on the type. Maybe "home office use" or travel, what were you thinking of as an expense?