tax return and pension

silversnail

I am self-employed, and make in the low 20k a year. I have a couple of questions about the new quarterly digital tax returns. Firstly, I currently complete a very basic tax return in that I say my outgoings are 1k a year, so I don't itemise them. Will I be able to continue to do this? I don't issue invoices, as I get paid as an self-employed worker in USDs through Paypal (I use an international teaching platform); I am also paid weekly by UK clients direct to my bank account - will this still be ok? Secondly, I will claim my private pension in the summer, but will carry on working - does this count as income towards the 30k threshold which means I have to complete the quarterly digital returns sooner, or is it only earned income that counts? Thank you for any advice.

Savvy_Sue

I may be quite wrong, but I think what the taxperson cares about is your TAXABLE income from all sources, ie not just your earned income.

So your private pension very definitely counts towards your total TAXABLE income, as does your state pension once you start to claim that.

I'm afraid I can't help with anything else …

itsthelittlethings

MTD is about your income from slef employment. I believe the threshold for falling into MTD this yar is 50 or 60,000. As such I would imagine you will not fall in.

https://makingtaxdigital.campaign.gov.uk/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=mtd&utm_content=mtd&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22261838862&gbraid=0AAAAA9kEhJCgWaKLcO7pM0ucAl5Ha9izu&gclid=Cj0KCQiA18DMBhDeARIsABtYwT11ZQcCYQsqgRFiLAM9J2hCHECaLc1DKp3zSHiNOWrlNAt1n_4wtsoaAlD3EALw_wcB

GrumpyDil

Absolutely that MTD is only about income from self employment/trading and does not include employment/pension income.

I'm hoping that remains the position as that means our rental income will very likely remain below the MTD threshold for a number of years yet.

Savvy_Sue

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81885201#Comment_81885201

So I'm wrong in that the pension doesn't count towards the MTD threshold. Good news for the OP.

silversnail

Thank you for this - most helpful and reassuring.