Registering for SA

Disneyprincess1976

Hi, looking for some clarification.

in January I sent a letter to HMRC providing an estimate of the BBSI my mother would receive in the 25/26 tax year. It was approx £11000. They send us a form to complete giving details of each account which we returned. They replied stating that they would receive the information directly from the banks towards the end of Sept 26.

I have sent a letter recorded delivery today to confirm the exact figure, asking them to let us know if they need further information or if we need to start completing a SA tax return.

Tonight, looking at their website I believe we would need to register for SA by 5/10 or we may be fined.

Am I right that we would register through her government gateway. Then we have until 31/1/27 to complete and pay. Should we go ahead and do this now without waiting for a reply to my letter?

Many thanks

poseidon1

Firstly were your estimates correct, did your mother' interest exceed £10k?

You don't and should not await HMRC's confirmation of what the figure should be. Errors can occur so HMRC's BBSI figures not necessarily definitive- the article below explains more fully -

https://www.litrg.org.uk/savings-property/tax-savings-and-investments/tax-savings-income

Your mother should have long since received any relevant year end certificates of interest paid to her from her bank/s ( probably online) so the figures are known and you should access them .

Self assessment tax is a proactive not passive process. So in addition to collating the interest figures you will need to ascertain all your mother's other taxable income sources such as state pension and any other occupational work pensions ( there will be a P60 for this).

If interest is above £10k, she must self assess all income sources as advised, but you only have a few days prior to expiry of 5th October deadline to register and obtain her Unique Tax Reference (UTR) to complete the tax return and make her tax payments by the 31 January deadline.

If she wants to submit a paper tax return, that deadline is 31th October.

If 5 October registration deadline missed then HMRC will communicate a new filing deadline for three months thereafter.

You have alot of work to do for your mother if you have done nothing on her behalf by way of relevant information gathering since 6 April.

Disneyprincess1976

Thank you for replying.

Yes her interest (excl ISAs) is more than £10000.

I have registered for SA today and have received confirmation of registration so that deadline is met.

I have all of the interest information so no more information to gather. I manage her accounts and maintain a spreadsheet.

I’m not really sure of the purpose of them sending out the form for us to complete in January, thanking us for the information then telling us they will wait to be informed by the banks late September though.

poseidon1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82152981#Comment_82152981

You're right they really shouldn't have bothered and simply should have reminded your mother of her self assessment responsiblies. Presumably they thought they might be being helpful if you hadn't already compiled the same data for yourself.

However, a date in September for them to supply what they have, leaves things tight to comply with relevant deadlines. You probably could have completed your mother's return by now had you not waited for them to get their act together . You live and learn.