In the time of pandemic as the economic uncertainty continues the last thing anyone can think of is giving away money to HMRC in the form of penalty.
The deadline to submit Self- Assessment tax return is 31 Jan 2021. You can pay your tax bill till 31 Jan 2020, however it is always a good idea to start filing the return early and make the payment before the deadline in order to avoid any delays in the payments which can incur a penalty. Even if you are thinking of paying the penalty over the phone its always better to do it early than when the deadline is near as HMRC call centre is very busy at that time.
Have you included any income from abroad in your self-assessment tax return?
If you had any foreign income and you were UK resident you should report it to HMRC by filling self-assessment tax return and pay UK tax on it. You can do this by registering yourself for self-assessment, you should have done this by 5th October. In case you have missed the deadline you might incur a penalty, however, if you have a valid reason you can appeal against it.
UK Resident or not?
If you want to know you are a UK resident or not you should ask yourself 2 simple questions:
- Did I spend 183 or more days in UK?
- Did I have a home in UK –and did I spend at least 1 month (30 days) in the tax year in the home which I bought or rented in UK for at least 3 months (91 days)?
If the answer to any of the above questions is yes then you are a UK resident and you will be filling in the self-assessment tax return and paying tax.
Foreign Income
Foreign income will include rental property, any online sales, and dividends from foreign investments for example if you have invested in shares or you have income coming from different funds.
If the only foreign income that you have is dividends
There is an exception when you do not have to fill in the self-assessment tax return
If you have invested in shares abroad but all of the following apply then you do not have to register and fill in the self-assessment form:
If your only foreign income is dividends and your total dividends which also includes your UK dividends are less than £ 2000 you do not have to fill in the self-assessment tax return provided you do not have any other income (foreign or UK income ) to report.
How can we help you?
We at Taxaccolega, have an expert team of accountants. If you want any advice on personal taxes please free to contact us. We can advise you, prepare accounts and file your returns on time. If you have received any penalty and you want to appeal against it we can do it for you. Call us at 020 8127 0728 and we will be happy to help you.