SimonH

This is probably a really stupid question but hey ho.

I'm employed by the Armed Forces and earn about £43,000pa and pay tax through PAYE. As such I am a higher rate tax payer.
As I understand it, as a higher rate taxpayer I should complete a tax return every year. I also gather that those required to complete a self assessment tax return will be sent one by the Inland Revenue. I have never been sent one of these and have thus never completed one.
Is the onus on me to chase these things up or do the IR decide when and who will receive these and just send them out?

I don't want to get dragged off to prison one day because I've never done a tax return but on the other hand why go looking for paperwork? If it's important surely it'll find me...

andrewjlane

Just because you are a higher rate tax payer doesn't mean that you have to complete a tax return. However, you are supposed to know if you have a tax liability and inform the Revenue who will send you a tax return. You will have an additional liability if you receive bank interest or dividend income (upon which higher rate tax will be payable) rental income, self employment income etc.

Sheepsplitter

A friend of mine was in a similar position.
When he finally contacted the tax office they sent him 7 years backdated forms which took him ages to fill in.
On the plus side they found he'd paid £2K too much tax and gave him a refund.
They will get around to sending the forms eventually, but the longer you leave it the harder it is to face filling them in.

SimonH

Thanks for the replies.
I don't actually have any additional tax liabilites so think I might escape on that front. I was a bit worried about getting 10 years forms all at once though...eek.
Think I'll just stick my head back in the sand.

dsmith

You are liable for more Tax if you have any savings etc. but if absolutely everything is PAYE then the form is pretty quick to fill in anyway - once you know whihc bits. They caught up with me 2 years after I broke into higher rate tax and it was a right pain wading through the form just to find the few boxes I had to fill in and confirm inmy opinion I'd over paid by about 85p.


from the I-R site...

We send tax returns to:

directors
employees and pensioners who pay tax at the higher rate (40 per cent)
employees and pensioners with more complex tax affairs.

They will catch up eventually

Deano

Tiggs

get the return- it will take you 2 mins to fill it in once you know what your doing.

carl

Whether you have any savings or not, you will still have to declare any interest you have earned on your current account. I spent most of 2000/2001 in overdraft, but I still had to declare my £0.02 interest (yes, it really was tuppence).

SimonH

Thanks again for the replies. Think I'll wait a year; Mrs H has jusr received the £100 fine through the post this morning because her return was late. They'll probably sting me too if I ring up and ask for a form now...

andrewjlane

Simon - if they send you a return now for 2000/01 you have three months to send it back without penalty. Re your wife's penalty, is she self employed or in receipt of rental income? If she is all PAYE and had no balance of tax to pay on 31 January 2002, I can tell you how to get the Revenue to cancel the fine. Email me if you want - andrewjlane@ukonline.co.uk (eves) or andrew@cslp.co.uk (daytime) - or reply through this thread.

SimonH

Andrew, thanks very much.
My wife is a hospital doctor and everything she gets is PAYE. There will be no balance of tax to pay however she will be claiming tax back on some professional memberships and subscriptions she has. I think she will also be claiming back some tax on some temporary locum work she did which was taxed at an emergency rate.
Simon

Wuss

SimonH,

I fill all this crap in on-line at

http://www.ir.gov.uk/sa/index.htm

In my opinion it is always worth filling the form in because you are responsible for your tax liability. You can find out whether you owe anything without submitting the form to them! I think you will find that the IR are very helpful. They will only prosecute people if there is extensive evidence of tax evasion, normally tens of thousands of pounds!!

andrewjlane

Simon

Quote s93(7) of the Taxes Management Act 1970 that states that the penalty is restricted to the LOWER of £100 or the tax outstanding for the year. If she has a repayment of no liability then no penalty. If she only had a liability of say £25 then the penalty will only be £25. Let me know how you get on.

babber

I've just had my first one through the post and was considering going to an accountant, and paying them to do it. Is that a good idea ? I don't understand the forms

Also, I worked from Home for about two years, so can I claim anything back from my mortgage, gas bills, etc?

Cheers Phill C

SimonH

Andrew

Thanks a lot - I'll follow this up and let you know how we get on.
Nice one.