You should have recently received our tax return checklist outlining the income and gains that could be relevant for inclusion in your 2018/19 self-assessment tax return. In this blog, we wanted to provide a bit more detail to help you understand exactly what information you need to send.
Income
You should have received any employment or pension P60s by 31 May for the previous tax year. If you left an employment during 2018/19, a P45 detailing year to date pay and any termination payments would have been issued at the time you left. Benefits such as medical insurance, or company cars are reported on form P11d, which you should receive by 6 July (unless they are taxed through payroll).
Interest from banks and building societies needs including even if the amount is within the savings allowance limits (£1,000/£500 for basic rate/higher rate taxpayers).
Where you hold taxable income-producing investments, such as shares/unit trusts/OEICs (Open-Ended Investment Companies), please send the vouchers to us.
Any income from sources outside the UK will need reporting and we will require the paperwork confirming the amounts and any tax deducted at source.
Please send details of any income and expenses from trade or businesses, including property rentals. Please note that mortgage interest in 2018/19 will be split as 50% finance costs deduction and 50% given as a basic rate tax reduction. Don’t forget to maintain a record of any business mileage as this can be a valuable deduction.
If you were in receipt of any other income, for example, if you have surrendered a life insurance bond, or if you are the beneficiary of a deceased’s estate or a trust, please send us the relevant paperwork.
Finally, if you or your partner were in receipt of Child Benefit and either salary is above £50,000 there may well be a High Income Benefit charge to calculate, therefore please supply details of child benefit paid.
Disposals
If you have sold or gifted any assets, such as property or shares etc, we will need documentation to determine the capital gains tax position. A sale of your main residence should not usually create a tax liability, but if it has not always been your main residence, or has had mixed use, then this will need considering.
If you have sold all or part of your business, Entrepreneurs’ Relief is a valuable relief which reduces the rate of capital gains tax from 20% to 10% up to a lifetime limit of £10 million. There are qualifying conditions that you must meet to obtain this relief, so if you believe that this is relevant please let us know. If you are considering a sale of your business, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can advise you regarding the qualifying conditions.
Don’t pay too much!
Any pension contributions that are made outside of payroll will need including in your tax return to obtain higher rate tax relief, therefore please send details. You can also obtain tax relief on
charitable donations, so it is well worth keeping a note whenever you donate with gift aid and sending in a list with your tax return information.
Tax efficient investments into such products as Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) and Enterprise Investment Schemes (EIS) need reporting in order to obtain the tax relief. You should have received paperwork confirming your investments – please pass this on to us.
Marriage Allowance lets you transfer 10% of your personal allowance to your husband, wife or civil partner. If you have a partner with income lower than £11,850 in 2018/19 please let us know and we can see if this is relevant.
If in doubt about any of the paperwork you are gathering, please give us a call on 01908 597904 as we will be happy to clarify your situation – it’s much better to check than to get it wrong!