Personal tax return services

Self-Assessment season has a habit of creeping up. One minute the new tax year has just started, and the next you are staring at a 31 January deadline and a pile of paperwork. For many people, especially company directors, landlords and those with several income sources, a personal tax return is something you know you must do, but would rather not have to think about.

As a UK resident, you are generally taxed on your worldwide income. That includes employment income, pensions, dividends, rental income, savings interest and some foreign income. If your affairs are more than a straightforward salaried job, there is a good chance HMRC expects you to complete a personal tax return through the Self-Assessment system.

At Agile Accountants our personal tax return services are designed to take this off your plate. We help you understand whether you need to file, prepare the return properly, submit it on time and plan for the tax bill, so there are no surprises.

What is a personal tax return?

A personal tax return is the formal way of telling HMRC about all of your taxable income and certain gains for a tax year running from 6 April to the following 5 April. It sits within the Self-Assessment system, which is how HMRC calculates and collects tax that is not fully dealt with through PAYE.

On a typical return, you might need to report:

• Salary and tax deducted under PAYE
• Self-employed trading income
• Partnership income
• Rental income from UK or overseas properties
• Dividends from companies
• Bank interest and other savings income
• Some foreign income and gains
• Pension income
• Claims for specific tax reliefs and allowances

Our personal tax return services bring all of that together into one accurate, compliant submission, so HMRC has a complete picture of your position.

Who needs to complete a personal tax return?

Not everyone has to complete a return each year. If your only income is from one employment and is fully taxed through PAYE, HMRC may not need a return from you. However, you will usually have to file one if, in the tax year:

• You worked for yourself as self-employed and earned more than £1,000
• You were a partner in a partnership
• You were a minister of religion
• You were a trustee or the executor of an estate
• HMRC sent you a notice requiring a tax return
• You or your partner received Child Benefit and one of you had income over £50,000

You received untaxed income such as:

• Rental income from property
• Tips and commission
• Savings interest
• Investment income and dividends
• Foreign income

You might also choose to complete a personal tax return even if it is not strictly required, for example if you want to claim certain tax reliefs or prove that you are self-employed in order to claim tax free childcare or maternity allowance.

A big part of our personal tax return services is simply answering the question: do you actually need to file a return, and if so, from which year? Getting that right at the start avoids headaches later.

Registering for Self-Assessment

If you have never filed a personal tax return before, you need to register with HMRC so they can add you to the Self-Assessment system and issue you with a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR).

The registration steps

Registering sounds complicated, but in practice it follows a clear sequence:

1. Confirm your status
   Check whether you are treated as employed, self-employed or both for tax purposes. This matters if you have a side business alongside a job.
2. Create or log in to your HMRC account
   When you register as self-employed, HMRC will also set you up for the correct National Insurance (Class 4, and voluntary Class 2 if needed). You do not usually need a separate registration for Class 2 National Insurance.
3. Receive your UTR
   HMRC sends a 10 digit Unique Taxpayer Reference by post to your registered address. This is your key reference number for Self-Assessment.
4. Set up a Government Gateway login
   With your UTR and personal details, you can create a Government Gateway account. This gives you access to online HMRC services.
5. Activate Self-Assessment online
   Once everything is linked, you can file your personal tax return online, check liabilities and view previous submissions.

Through our personal tax return services we can walk you through each step, making sure you are properly registered well before the filing deadline.

Finding or recovering your UTR

Your UTR is essential for filing returns and speaking to HMRC about your personal tax.

You can usually find it:

• In your HMRC online account
• On previous tax returns
• On letters or statements from HMRC about Self-Assessment

If you still cannot locate it, HMRC can resend it by post after carrying out security checks. Clients often ask us where to look and what details they will need when they phone; we are happy to guide you through that as part of our service.

Key tax return deadlines

The Self-Assessment timetable is the same each year, which makes it easier to plan ahead.

For a tax year that runs from 6 April to 5 April:

• 31 October
  Deadline for HMRC to receive a paper personal tax return, if you are filing on paper.
• 31 January
  Deadline for filing an online personal tax return and paying any tax owed for that year. This is also the deadline for the first payment on account towards the following tax year, if those apply.
• 31 July
  Deadline for the second payment on account, for those who make payments on account.

If HMRC sends you a notice to complete a return later in the year, you usually have at least three months from the date of the notice to file, although the payment deadline may still be 31 January.

Our personal tax return services are structured around these dates. We encourage clients to get information to us as early as possible, so the return can be finalised and submitted well before the rush.

Late filing penalties

Missing the filing deadline can be expensive, even if you have no tax to pay.

The standard penalty structure is:

• £100 as soon as the filing deadline is missed
• After 3 months, a daily penalty of £10, up to a maximum of £900
• At 6 months late, an additional penalty of the higher of £300 or 5 percent of the tax due
• At 12 months late, another penalty of the higher of £300 or 5 percent of the tax due

Interest and late payment penalties can also apply if the tax itself is not paid on time.

One of the major advantages of using professional personal tax return services is that someone else is focused on these deadlines for you, helping you avoid unnecessary fines.

How do you pay your tax bill?

Once your personal tax return has been filed and you have agreed the figures, any tax due needs to reach HMRC by the payment deadline.

You can normally pay by:

• Online banking or Faster Payments
• Debit card
• BACS transfer
• Direct Debit
• Cheque
• At your bank, if you have a paying in slip from HMRC

The crucial detail is the payment reference. In most cases, this is your UTR followed by a letter, and it allows HMRC to match the payment to your Self-Assessment account.

As part of our personal tax return services, we send you a clear summary showing:

• How much you need to pay
• The dates you need to pay by
• The account details and reference to use

so you are not left trying to decode HMRC correspondence on your own.

What to have ready for your accountant

Good preparation makes the process smoother and helps us spot planning opportunities.

Before we start work on your personal tax return, it is helpful to gather:

1. P60 or P45
   From each employer you had during the tax year, showing pay and tax deducted.
2. Dividend information
   Details of dividends received from any companies where you hold shares, including your own limited company.
3. Bank and savings interest
   Statements or tax year summaries showing interest from bank accounts, savings accounts and similar products.
4. P11D or benefit information
   Documents showing any benefits in kind, such as a company car or private medical insurance.
5. Any other income
   Records for rental income, foreign income, partnership profits, freelance or side hustle income and any other personal income. Remember that you are required to declare your worldwide income.

If you are unsure whether something is relevant, send it across anyway. It is much easier for us to disregard a document that is not needed than to fix a missing piece after the return has been filed.

How our personal tax return services work

At Agile Accountants, many of our clients are limited companies and their owners. We already handle their company accounts and Corporation Tax, so looking after personal tax returns is a natural extension.

Our process typically looks like this:

• We confirm whether you need to file a return and for which years.
• If you are new to Self-Assessment, we help you register and obtain your UTR.
• We send you a tailored checklist of the information we need.
• Once we receive your information, we prepare the draft personal tax return and tax calculation.
• We check that income is reported correctly, identify reliefs and allowances and sense check the results.
• We talk you through the figures in plain English so you understand how the tax has been calculated.
• With your approval, we submit the return online to HMRC.
• We provide clear payment details and can remind you of upcoming deadlines.

Because we work with clients on a monthly basis, rather than just once a year, we can also build your personal tax into wider financial planning. For example, we can estimate tax liabilities ahead of time and help you set aside funds through the year, instead of facing a large, unexpected bill in January.

Support for company directors

If you run your own limited company, your personal tax position is closely tied to how you pay yourself. Salary, dividends, benefits and pension contributions all interact, and the decisions you make in the company will flow through to your personal tax return.

We help directors to:

• Bring together salary, dividends and benefits into one clear calculation
• Understand how much to set aside for future tax bills
• Consider different remuneration options and the personal tax impact before making decisions

This joined up view across business and personal tax is one of the key advantages of using a firm that handles both.

Support for landlords, investors and side businesses

We also support individuals who have:

• One or more buy to let or holiday let properties
• Investment portfolios generating dividends and interest
• Side businesses or freelance income alongside employment

For these clients, our personal tax return services ensure that property income and expenses are treated correctly, investment income is reported in the right way and any double taxation issues on foreign income are handled carefully.

Take the pressure off this Self-Assessment season

Self-Assessment deadlines do not have to mean stress. With the right support, you can:

• Know for sure whether you need to file a return
• Register correctly and keep your UTR safe
• Gather the right information without guesswork
• File an accurate personal tax return on time
• Avoid unnecessary penalties and interest
• Build personal tax into your broader financial plans

If you would like help with your next return, our personal tax return services are here to make the process simpler, whether you are near Birmingham or elsewhere in the UK.

Get in touch with Agile Accountants and we can talk through your situation, your deadlines and how we can support you this year and in future years.