The most common Self Assessment mistakes
You can make filing your taxes much easier by avoiding these common Self Assessment mistakes:
1. Forgetting about deadlines
You need a UTR number for your Self Assessment.
It takes weeks to get it, so don’t wait until the last minute.
If you’re not sure about the deadlines, check our post on the UK tax year dates here.
2. Forgetting about tax reliefs
There are many ways to reduce your tax bill.
You should:
- keep a list of all the claimable expenses (especially if you’re self-employed or a landlord)
- make full use of your tax-free allowances
- declare money you’ve given to charities
- claim your private pension contributions.
3. Forgetting about payments on account
HMRC may ask you to pay this year’s bill and also a “Payment on Account.”
Your first January payment could be 50% bigger than you think.
If you’re self-employed, remember that payments on account are charged at the end of January and the end of July.
Read our guide to Payments on Account here.
4. Getting your tax code wrong
If you are under the wrong tax code, you could be paying too much tax.
Check our post on what your tax code means and how to find it.
If there’s a mistake, call HMRC as soon as possible.
5. Forgetting to declare salary and benefits from PAYE jobs
If you have a full-time job besides being self-employed, you need to let HMRC know so you don’t pay extra tax.
Ask your employer for a P60 and P11D: this will show you how much you earned and how much tax was paid.
You need to record this on the Employment pages of your tax return.