Get your tax return in early and you could get an extra Christmas present

Getting your tax return in early could give you an extra Christmas present, say leading tax and advisory firm Blick Rothenberg.

Suzanne Briggs, a partner at the firm said: “ In the run up to Christmas, many of us are focussed on getting organised, writing cards, buying presents and planning for spending time with loved ones (as far we can this year). However, it is worth getting organised with your tax affairs too as you can achieve a cash flow benefit by getting your tax return in early.”

She added: “ The deadline for filing the 2019/20 self-assessment tax return on-line is 31 January 2021. But if you get your tax return submitted by 30 December 2020 and your tax liability is less than £3,000 you can opt to have this collected via your 2021/22 tax code enabling you to spread the payment from April 2021, rather than paying a lump sum at the end of January.”

Suzanne said: “ The basic conditions are that the tax return is filed on-line by 30 December and the tax due is below £3,000, that you already pay tax through PAYE (either as an employee or on a pension) and that your income is sufficient to collect the tax.”

She added: “ It will also be important to remember that when you come to next year’s tax return that you include the amount of tax that was collected through your tax code on that form (there is a box for this) – otherwise your tax calculation for next year will be incorrect!”