Just one day before the self-assessment window slams shut, self-employed Brits have revealed they’d rather do almost anything than file their tax return.
According to a survey of over 1,000 self-employed workers across the UK, undertaken by accounting software provider Intuit QuickBooks, half fear they haven’t filed their tax return correctly, while 40% find the whole process stressful.
With the self-assessment deadline for the 2017/18 tax year landing midnight tomorrow (Thursday 31 January), micro business owners and sole traders revealed the frankly disturbing things they’d rather do than tackle their tax return.
- 1 in 5 people (2.4 million) said they would rather give a speech to 100 strangers
- 1 in 5 people (2.3 million) would rather spend a night in a haunted house
- 1 in 5 people (2.2 million) said they’d rather hold a tarantula for a minute
- 1 in 7 people (1.7 million) would rather get trapped in a lift
- 1 in 8 people (1.4 million) said they would rather jump out of a plane
Commenting on the findings, Shaun Shirazian, head of product, Europe at QuickBooks, said: “The self-employed have more than enough to worry about between keeping on top of their cash flow, drumming up new customers and balancing their work and private lives. Self-assessment shouldn’t be another stress to add to the list.”
The research revealed also that as many as 110,000 of the self-employed workforce are planning to submit their tax return to HMRC after the 31 January deadline. If you’re part of the 1% take a look at the government’s official late-submission penalties.
Penalties for late tax returns
Anybody missing the deadline will automatically receive a £100 fine. Crucially, even if no tax is owed, failure to submit a tax return will still result in a penalty.
- A fixed £100 fine for all submissions after deadline
- After three months, additional daily penalties of £10 per day, up to a maximum £900
- After six months, a further penalty of five per cent of the tax due, or £300 (whichever is greater)
- After 12 months, another five per cent or £300 charge (whichever is greater)
- Additional penalties for paying late of five per cent of the tax unpaid at 30 days, six months and 12 months
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Five last-minute tax tips to beat the self-assessment deadline
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Who needs to file a tax return?
UK residents need to file a self-assessment to HMRC if they:
- Earned more than £2,500 from renting out property
- Or their partner received Child Benefit and either of them had an annual income of more than £50,000
- Received more than £2,500 in other untaxed income, for example from tips or commission
- Are self-employed sole traders
- Are employees claiming expenses in excess of £2,500
- Have an annual income over £100,000
- Earned income from abroad that they need to pay tax on
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