How to avoid self assessment

Uriziel

I have received a letter from HMRC giving me an UTR number saying that they will let me know next year if I should file a self assessment.

I don't want to file a self assessment.

If I move enough money out of my savings account in order to have less than £10k interest this tax year and invest it into stocks, will I get out of having to file a self assessment? Do people with stocks investments need to file one too, or only if they make more money than the capital gains allowance? At what point do you need to file a self assessment for capital gain and dividends? I won't have more than the allowances so should I be exempt?

masonic

You would only need to file due to your investments if you disposed of investments worth more than £50k or made a capital gain of more than £3k, or (maybe) dividends above that allowance.

This does seem like a rather extreme case of tax tail wagging the dog. It may be wholly appropriate for you to invest some of your cash, but doing it for this reason is perhaps some more careful thought.

ColdIron

Uriziel said:

I don't want to file a self assessment.

SA is not to be feared. It's usually easy to do if you've kept good records. You know the result is accurate as it's based on your figures and not theirs plus you get to see how the tax is calculated

I really wouldn't welcome being taken off it

Ayr_Rage

A simple search will give you the requirements about when you need to file SA.

Don't forget that HMRC are looking at what has been happening not what you are doing now or your future plans.

If HMRC require you to file then you file, there's no getting out of it, watch out for an email on 6th April.

subjecttocontract

I am doing exactly the opposite to you. I'm making every effort to maximise my income, including from savings and investments to help ensure that I continue to complete a self assessment form. I find filling in the form very easy and it means I know all the details I need to know about my tax liabilities.

I just don't understand how anyone would want to try to avoid it. Even a family member of mine who is sight impaired goes out of their way to ensure they have a SA form submitted.

Ayr_Rage

subjecttocontract said:

I am doing exactly the opposite to you. I'm making every effort to maximise my income, including from savings and investments to help ensure that I continue to complete a self assessment form. I find filling in the form very easy and it means I know all the details I need to know about my tax liabilities.

I just don't understand how anyone would want to try to avoid it. Even a family member of mine who is sight impaired goes out of their way to ensure they have a SA form submitted.

I was just going to edit my previous post and say almost exactly the same.

SA is a piece of cake if you keep good records.

It also means you are never chasing your tail, you know exactly what you owe and when it needs to be paid.

JGB1955

I dread the day when I'm taken out of SA.  I love knowing my tax liability, to the penny.

BooJewels

I think it's one of those tasks where the idea of it is much worse than the reality.  It actually only takes me about 10 minutes to do - a bit longer to get all the numbers together and verified against statements etc.  But I keep good records, so it's just a case of reconciling the taxable accounts to a total and verified against tax statements - which only gets confusing as some accounts are now closed, new ones opened mid year and fixes matured etc.

Keep good records as you go along - save your statements when they're issued - that's the key to making it easy.

masonic

BooJewels said:

Keep good records as you go along - save your statements when they're issued - that's the key to making it easy.

This is something that needs to be done anyway, as you cannot depend on the banks and HMRC to get it right.

Bigwheels1111

Uriziel said:

I have received a letter from HMRC giving me an UTR number saying that they will let me know next year if I should file a self assessment.

I don't want to file a self assessment.

If I move enough money out of my savings account in order to have less than £10k interest this tax year and invest it into stocks, will I get out of having to file a self assessment? Do people with stocks investments need to file one too, or only if they make more money than the capital gains allowance? At what point do you need to file a self assessment for capital gain and dividends? I won't have more than the allowances so should I be exempt?

Why not, make my life so easy.
Takes longe to register than file a return.
On the 7th April I login, answer a few questions and enter my earnings ie carers allowance and then
One more box, untaxed interest.
Submit return and then do nothing until the 7th April the next year.

seacaitch

Unlike everyone else, I entirely understand the OP's desire not to do Self Assessment.

I spent years and years under it, then had no need once my asset disposals reduced and HMRC correctly recognised my interest income had sunk below the reporting threshold. So I had no need to file for a decade - no liability and one less task to complete each year - regardless of how short that task is, not needing to do it at all still wins out...

More recently, I fell back within Self Assessment. For sure, if your affairs are simple it's no great shakes, but it's more shakes than no shakes.

As others indicate, I wouldn't distort your desired savings or investment behaviour solely to avoid Self Assessment, since with simply affairs it's not onerous, but if you happen to fall out of it naturally then that's pleasant enough.