Tax & Accounting News
New Look for Self Assessment Paperwork
02/05/2008
Self assessment tax returns have been given a makeover in a move to make the paperwork easier to understand and complete.
The forms, which have been dropping through millions of letterboxes across the UK since early April, follow a two-year pilot by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) involving more than 7,000 self-assessment customers.
The form has been redesigned with fewer questions, simpler language and an improved layout, in the first major change to its format since it was introduced in April 1997.
It applies to all taxpayers who do not qualify for a simpler, four-page tax return, introduced in April 2005 for people within self assessment with more straightforward tax affairs.
The online self assessment tax return has also been redesigned. Anyone previously filing online will receive a notice to file rather than a paper return.
Other changes to the forms include:
- questions about the main source of income are now at the front of the form rather than at the end
- a shorter self-employment section is included for straightforward businesses with an annual turnover of less than £64,000
- an increased limit on the threshold above which abbreviated “three line” accounts can be prepared, from £15,000 to £30,000.
Paper returns must be filed by 31 October and online returns by 31 January.
In another move, from this year HMRC will now have only until the anniversary of the date the return was filed – rather than the statutory filing date – to raise enquiries into returns. Submitting an early return will therefore now no longer give HMRC an extended enquiry window.
The self assessment pages of the HMRC website can be found at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa
Print
page 