With penalties for failing to submit on time and additional interest if income is undeclared, taxpayers facing the January deadline for self assessment tax returns will have been heading into the festive period facing the extra burden of ensuring their tax return is correct. Look at the basics first. It is essential that anyone who needs to complete a tax return for income received during the 2018/19 tax year is registered for self assessment with HMRC. Before anyone can submit a tax return, they have to register with HMRC and receive a unique taxpayer reference (UTR). Additionally, if they want to file a tax return online, taxpayers must register for online self assessment and receive an activation code for your online account. HMRC sends this information by post and it takes around 10 working days, longer at times, so time is of the essence. While HMRC accepts that there will be circumstances where a taxpayer cannot file their tax return on time, avoidable errors caused by disorganisation or just not realising this needed to be done will not be accepted as a reasonable excuse.
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