Planning for your self assessment tax bill
The UK tax year is 6 April to the following 5 April. So the tax year 2009/10 ends on 5 April 2010.
You will need to complete a self assessment tax return if you are self employed or a limited company director.
Click here to read our free guide on starting a business and registering with HMRC (opens in a new window).
Although the deadline is 31 January for e-filed returns, we recommend that you complete your tax return and submit it to HMRC as early as possible. Click here to download a useful pdf tax return checklist.
A self employed person will pay both income tax and class 4 national insurance (NI) on their profits plus income tax on any other income and capital gains tax on any relevant capital gains in the tax year.
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Self Assessment Tax Return Checklist 2009-10
To help you collate the information you need to prepare your self assessment tax return for 2009/10 we have prepared a useful checklist which you can download here.
In our experience, the list of income, deductions and capital transactions covers the majority of our clients but if you have other income, tax deductions or gains/losses not listed, you may need to include those on your tax return.
HM Revenue & Customs must receive your tax return by 31 January 2011 to avoid a penalty.
At HRBS we submit all tax returns online. However, if you wish to prepare a paper return, the deadline is midnight on 31 October.
The earlier you prepare your accounts and tax return the better. You can claim any refunds promptly to help your cashflow and where tax is due; you will have plenty of time to plan your tax payments.
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Charge rent for use of your home office
As a limited company company director you can charge your company a rent for using a room in your home as an office. We recommend that you have a rental agreement in place between you and the company and we have made available a selection of agreements available for free download here at tips.HRBS.biz , choose rar files (rar file) or zip files.
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Claim a tax refund for your failed company
Has your limited company hit hard times?
It is a sad fact of business that many companies fail and the owner/directors lose the money invested in the shares and loans made to the company. The shares in the company become worthless i.e. have negligible value and the owner has made a, sometimes substantial, loss.
Make a negligible value claim
If you are in this situation, you can make a claim to offset the loss against your other income. If you are a higher rate tax payer or have been in recent years, you may receive a tax refund of upto 40% of the loss.
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