Do i need to fill in a tax return ?
Discussion
I'm wondering whether i need to fill in a tax return ? (Which probably means yes i guess !)
I left work May last year, got paid, got whacked 40% on only my second months salary, told i would have to wait until the end of the year to sort it out, great.
Anyhow, i left work on an early severance deal so got paid out and got whacked 40% tax on everything again but at least this time they said i had probably paid too much tax and they could look into it. I sent my last two salary statements (and my P60 or whatever it was) showing what i had earnt so far that year and answered all questions truefully about not working or getting any allowances, etc.
They re-calculated all of my tax issues/earnings and sent me a refund. I have not worked since leaving work as i have been (and still am) abroad travelling.
Do i need to fill in a tax return for 2013/2014 as my circumstances have not changed since they worked it all out ?
Having been a civil servant all my working life i have never had to deal with anything to do with tax/NI/pensions, etc,etc !!
I believe i have up to next January maybe March to do it if i do it online, i am returning home for Xmas for a bit so could do it then.
Any help appreciated.
I left work May last year, got paid, got whacked 40% on only my second months salary, told i would have to wait until the end of the year to sort it out, great.
Anyhow, i left work on an early severance deal so got paid out and got whacked 40% tax on everything again but at least this time they said i had probably paid too much tax and they could look into it. I sent my last two salary statements (and my P60 or whatever it was) showing what i had earnt so far that year and answered all questions truefully about not working or getting any allowances, etc.
They re-calculated all of my tax issues/earnings and sent me a refund. I have not worked since leaving work as i have been (and still am) abroad travelling.
Do i need to fill in a tax return for 2013/2014 as my circumstances have not changed since they worked it all out ?
Having been a civil servant all my working life i have never had to deal with anything to do with tax/NI/pensions, etc,etc !!
I believe i have up to next January maybe March to do it if i do it online, i am returning home for Xmas for a bit so could do it then.
Any help appreciated.
If your only serious income during the year was taxed (however incorrectly) under the PAYE system, you could TRY to sort your affairs out by
a) contacting HMRC by telephone (good luck with that) and explaining the situation to them
b) writing a letter to them (even better luck with that)
c) registering for Self Assessment and submitting the return on line
In many ways, option c) will produce quicker results and allow you to fully understand what the true position is.
You might want to consider seeking professional help (i.e. an accountant or tax adviser) as an accountant should be able to indicate to you BEFORE you submit anything whether you have paid too much or too little tax.
a) contacting HMRC by telephone (good luck with that) and explaining the situation to them
b) writing a letter to them (even better luck with that)
c) registering for Self Assessment and submitting the return on line
In many ways, option c) will produce quicker results and allow you to fully understand what the true position is.
You might want to consider seeking professional help (i.e. an accountant or tax adviser) as an accountant should be able to indicate to you BEFORE you submit anything whether you have paid too much or too little tax.
I think you are saying that you already sorted out the refund before you left.
So you worked in the first few months, got taxed as though you were working for the year. You weren't so you applied for and got a refund and then left the country.
If you haven't had further income and you haven't been sent a tax return to fill in then you should be fine to do nothing further. A rule of thumb is you don't need to so a tax return unless they send you one or you know that you have had income that is outside PAYE or UK interest or dividends that is paid net and that doesn't push you out of standard rate.
So you worked in the first few months, got taxed as though you were working for the year. You weren't so you applied for and got a refund and then left the country.
If you haven't had further income and you haven't been sent a tax return to fill in then you should be fine to do nothing further. A rule of thumb is you don't need to so a tax return unless they send you one or you know that you have had income that is outside PAYE or UK interest or dividends that is paid net and that doesn't push you out of standard rate.
That is the general scenario -
SA is required if you have income that
a) is taxable but isn't taxed at source (i.e. self employment, rental income, capital gains, cashing in of insurance or similar policies etc)
b) you have income that IS taxed at source (or deemed to be taxed at source) but only at basic or low rates of tax AND YOU ARE A HIGHER RATE TAXPAYER
c) you are in a high earning household (you or your partner earns over £60,000) AND you claim the full Child Benefit
However, I think that far more people should voluntarily register for SA so that they can take command of their own tax affairs and more or less tell HMRC what the liabilities or refunds are. Even those who are basic rate taxpayers and mainly pay their taxes through PAYE can still continually pay the wrong tax each year. PAYE really struggles to handle a persons tax affairs correctly, especially if they have multiple sources of PAYE income in a given tax year.
In the modern age there are lots of people who fall into this category - and an awful lot of them aren't particularly high earners. Pensioners come to mind.
I have had to submit many tax returns for for relatively lowly paid pensioners whose tax affairs in a complete muddle purely because the PAYE system just couldn't cope with their multiple (but small) pensions.
SA is required if you have income that
a) is taxable but isn't taxed at source (i.e. self employment, rental income, capital gains, cashing in of insurance or similar policies etc)
b) you have income that IS taxed at source (or deemed to be taxed at source) but only at basic or low rates of tax AND YOU ARE A HIGHER RATE TAXPAYER
c) you are in a high earning household (you or your partner earns over £60,000) AND you claim the full Child Benefit
However, I think that far more people should voluntarily register for SA so that they can take command of their own tax affairs and more or less tell HMRC what the liabilities or refunds are. Even those who are basic rate taxpayers and mainly pay their taxes through PAYE can still continually pay the wrong tax each year. PAYE really struggles to handle a persons tax affairs correctly, especially if they have multiple sources of PAYE income in a given tax year.
In the modern age there are lots of people who fall into this category - and an awful lot of them aren't particularly high earners. Pensioners come to mind.
I have had to submit many tax returns for for relatively lowly paid pensioners whose tax affairs in a complete muddle purely because the PAYE system just couldn't cope with their multiple (but small) pensions.
Thank you both.
Henry JM - yes everything up to the point where i left was looked at and taken into account, taxed accordingly and refund given. Working it oug roughly without detailed knowledge it, i believe it is ok. Not earn't/worked since and out of the UK travelling.
Eric MC - if i register for self assesment online does that start any ball rolling as it were, can i pump some numbers into it and see if it comes up with what i've paid already, or does that send some information of to somebody who then start pestering me ? I've got nothing to hide just don't want to be hassled by folk if i'm abroad and will have difficulty dealing with people, rather let sleeping dogs lay and all that.
In this sort of scenario Eric which seems quite straight forward, what do you think somebody would charge to check and file on line for me ?
Henry JM - yes everything up to the point where i left was looked at and taken into account, taxed accordingly and refund given. Working it oug roughly without detailed knowledge it, i believe it is ok. Not earn't/worked since and out of the UK travelling.
Eric MC - if i register for self assesment online does that start any ball rolling as it were, can i pump some numbers into it and see if it comes up with what i've paid already, or does that send some information of to somebody who then start pestering me ? I've got nothing to hide just don't want to be hassled by folk if i'm abroad and will have difficulty dealing with people, rather let sleeping dogs lay and all that.
In this sort of scenario Eric which seems quite straight forward, what do you think somebody would charge to check and file on line for me ?
SimonV8ster said:
Thank you both.
Henry JM - yes everything up to the point where i left was looked at and taken into account, taxed accordingly and refund given. Working it oug roughly without detailed knowledge it, i believe it is ok. Not earn't/worked since and out of the UK travelling.
Eric MC - if i register for self assesment online does that start any ball rolling as it were, can i pump some numbers into it and see if it comes up with what i've paid already, or does that send some information of to somebody who then start pestering me ? I've got nothing to hide just don't want to be hassled by folk if i'm abroad and will have difficulty dealing with people, rather let sleeping dogs lay and all that.
In this sort of scenario Eric which seems quite straight forward, what do you think somebody would charge to check and file on line for me ?
There's loads of online income tax calculators which you could use and test out whether you want to be troubling the Revenue or not before you "become known" to them. Try Listen to taxman, it's pretty good and I've generally found it to be accurate. Henry JM - yes everything up to the point where i left was looked at and taken into account, taxed accordingly and refund given. Working it oug roughly without detailed knowledge it, i believe it is ok. Not earn't/worked since and out of the UK travelling.
Eric MC - if i register for self assesment online does that start any ball rolling as it were, can i pump some numbers into it and see if it comes up with what i've paid already, or does that send some information of to somebody who then start pestering me ? I've got nothing to hide just don't want to be hassled by folk if i'm abroad and will have difficulty dealing with people, rather let sleeping dogs lay and all that.
In this sort of scenario Eric which seems quite straight forward, what do you think somebody would charge to check and file on line for me ?
Eric Mc said:
I would say about £100 - assuming matters are as straightforward as you THINK they are..
Ok that's good news, more than happy with that for peace of mind and somebody else doing it. So would I just have to send any paperwork I have off to them with some sort of written statement and then let them sort it out ?
I'm still abroad, will return home for 2/3 weeks at Xmas but only to renew my passport then be off again, might not have time to visit someone.
Obviously, if you want an agent to handle your tax affairs, you must pass on to them all the relevant data that is needed. In the modern age, of course, a lot of this can be sent as e-mail or e-mail attachments.
I would suggest you find an accountant and the accountant will then assess whether an SA return is the best option.
You cannot file an SA return without an SA Tax Reference (usually called the Unique Tax Reference or UTR).
If you have ever completed an SA tax return ion the past, you will have been issued with a UTR you can use again.
If you have never completed an SA return, then you will need to obtain a UTR.
I would suggest you find an accountant and the accountant will then assess whether an SA return is the best option.
You cannot file an SA return without an SA Tax Reference (usually called the Unique Tax Reference or UTR).
If you have ever completed an SA tax return ion the past, you will have been issued with a UTR you can use again.
If you have never completed an SA return, then you will need to obtain a UTR.
Ok i'm stumped now, to use the online self assessment you need your UTR, it says in their own description that to get a UTR you have to register for self assessment ? Eh ?!
I would like to email them but i can see no way of emailing them to ask for assistance as no emails are visible.
I believe i need tax forms SA100 but i can see nowhere where it actually asks you how much money you've earn't ?!
Even if i want to do it by paper submission i still need my UTR ?
Maybe i'm making some obvious mistake but i can't see anyway of proceeding ?
If anybody can offer any assistance i would appreciate it.
I would like to email them but i can see no way of emailing them to ask for assistance as no emails are visible.
I believe i need tax forms SA100 but i can see nowhere where it actually asks you how much money you've earn't ?!
Even if i want to do it by paper submission i still need my UTR ?
Maybe i'm making some obvious mistake but i can't see anyway of proceeding ?
If anybody can offer any assistance i would appreciate it.
UK taxation is based on the principle that different types of income are taxed in quite different ways - with different rates, rules, allowances etc covering the different classes of income.
Because of this, the tax return is broken down into different sections which asks you for totals of the different income amounts received from different sources.
Some income in the UK is taxed automatically at source, such as wages under PAYE or bank interest received. Some is not taxed at source (sole trading income, rental income etc).
So, when entering the various forms of income, you need to know -
was it taxed at source or not?
if taxed at source, the amount of tax deducted
You will find that some boxes on the return may only ask you to enter the net amount of income received after deduction of tax
some will ask you for the gross (before tax) income received and then ask you to enter the amount of tax deducted in a separate box
The return also has supplementary pages (or screens if being completed on line) that cover various categories of income that are not covered in the "core"return. These categories include -
self employment income from a sole trader business
share of partnership income from a trading partnership
foreign income
rental income from a property
capital gains income (for capital gains tax purposes)
There are others.
Because of this, the tax return is broken down into different sections which asks you for totals of the different income amounts received from different sources.
Some income in the UK is taxed automatically at source, such as wages under PAYE or bank interest received. Some is not taxed at source (sole trading income, rental income etc).
So, when entering the various forms of income, you need to know -
was it taxed at source or not?
if taxed at source, the amount of tax deducted
You will find that some boxes on the return may only ask you to enter the net amount of income received after deduction of tax
some will ask you for the gross (before tax) income received and then ask you to enter the amount of tax deducted in a separate box
The return also has supplementary pages (or screens if being completed on line) that cover various categories of income that are not covered in the "core"return. These categories include -
self employment income from a sole trader business
share of partnership income from a trading partnership
foreign income
rental income from a property
capital gains income (for capital gains tax purposes)
There are others.
Eric Mc said:
However, I think that far more people should voluntarily register for SA so that they can take command of their own tax affairs and more or less tell HMRC what the liabilities or refunds are.
Absolutely agree 
Sounds daunting to many people but it really is quite simple after you've done it once
Ok, well i've returned home and was about to complete my return armed with my UTR but of course you then also need an activation code which has to be sent by post...........
I now have that and will try and complete my return.
One question i have just thought of is as i have been outside of the country during the time i was receiving the rent on my property, does this have any implications for me ? Or do i just declare it all (minus any maintenance and agenf fees) ?
I now have that and will try and complete my return.
One question i have just thought of is as i have been outside of the country during the time i was receiving the rent on my property, does this have any implications for me ? Or do i just declare it all (minus any maintenance and agenf fees) ?
SimonV8ster said:
Ok, well i've returned home and was about to complete my return armed with my UTR but of course you then also need an activation code which has to be sent by post...........
I now have that and will try and complete my return.
One question i have just thought of is as i have been outside of the country during the time i was receiving the rent on my property, does this have any implications for me ? Or do i just declare it all (minus any maintenance and agenf fees) ?
You declare it all less allowable expenses - UK property is always fully taxed.I now have that and will try and complete my return.
One question i have just thought of is as i have been outside of the country during the time i was receiving the rent on my property, does this have any implications for me ? Or do i just declare it all (minus any maintenance and agenf fees) ?
David
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