Self Assessment Urgent Help

MattMattMattUK

PM22 said:

Thanks for all of your replies. I actually was so panicked I went with Tax Scouts for £149 and they completed and filed my tax return within 24 hours. This was done by a registered accountant. I can't speak highly enough of them. It's a simple enough task to do yourself but I have tried and tired and just couldn't get to grips with it.

I earned so little that I have to pay £2 tax. I'm £4 in credit from my last tax return so nothing to pay. I'm so happy I can sleep at night ad it's done and dusted and I was happy to pay the £149 to avoid the massive fines. 

Thanks for all your replies though.

Have you also confirmed to HMRC that you are no longer self employed and all tax is now paid via PAYE? If not there might be one more to do as you might have to do the current tax year (2022/2023) but then that would be the end.

ManekiNeko

I'm really glad you've got it sorted, thanks for updating us all ☺️

EssexHebridean

I'd also suggest familiarising yourself with the HMRC and government sites generally so that you nave a better basis for being able to work through problems. It might at least mean that "knee-jerk" panic reactions like this arise less in the future - and if further self employed work comes up that you need to declare then you will actually be earning the full benefit of what it pays you, too! 

It occurs to me that presumably you must have had a gateway login in order to register as SE in the first place? So it is probably just a case of re-setting the password. 

Final suggestion - if you DO work on a SE basis again, then just do your tax return as soon as it is available to you - usually from mid-April in the tax year after the one you worked in. Far easier than leaving it until close to the deadline and gives you months, rather than just a handful of weeks, to address any issues!

PM22

Right you are EssexHebridean! Sounds like you live in a perfect world.

EssexHebridean

PM22 said:

Right you are EssexHebridean! Sounds like you live in a perfect world.

Not at all, but I have been both in debt, and also self employed (including periods of combining multiple SE income streams along with PAYE) so hoped that my experiences in the area might prove to be of assistance. I learned from being in debt that it's better not to spend money on doing things that it is possible to learn to do yourself, and particularly where there is free help and support available to teach you those things. Being Self Employed taught me that whilst initially daunting, the SA form is actually remarkably straightforward (indeed, for a simple one, so straightforward that the most stressful thing about it is likely to be wondering what you've missed as it took so little time!) it just needs a deep breath and working through step by step.

Generally when people post here we assume that they are looking for assistance and advice, and we also work on the basis that advice and assistance given on one person's thread may well help someone else in a similar situation down the line. If the advice given on this thread from those who know the process stops someone else effectively taxing themselves £150 on SE income that would otherwise have attracted almost nothing to pay, then it was worth me posting in spite of that post being greeted with sarcasm, IMO.  

Incidentally - the advice given by Matt a few posts above is extremely important - if you have not done this, then you need to do it quickly - I'm not sure whether the deadline for that to possibly* not require a SA form for 22/23 would be end Jan or beginning April, but HMRC would be able to advise. 

* HMRC can ask for a SA form to be completed for some years after any SE period ends - I was required to do one further year following my declaration of no longer being SE, others have been asked for longer.