It is each taxpayer’s obligation to report their tax liabilities even if they do not receive a Tax Return form from the Inland Revenue. You are also expected to pay any tax you owe promptly to avoid paying interest and surcharges on any tax paid late.

The dates below give you an indication of all the important deadlines:

6 July - collecting the papers from your employer

31 July - paying 2nd installment tax

30 September - to avoid calculating your own tax bill

5 October - reporting new tax liabilities

31 December - to avoid calculating your own tax bill when filing online

31 January - sending in your Tax Return and paying tax

28 February - surcharges on tax paid late

5 April - end of the tax year


6 July

By this date you should have received from your employer form P60 and your form P11D. You will probably also have received all the other information you need to complete your Tax Return. So it’s time to start filling in the forms or to send all the paperwork to me.

[Back to top]

31 July

The second payment on account for the tax year just ended must be made by this date. If tax is still outstanding for the previous tax year (i.e. year ended on 5 April, 16 months earlier) a further automatic 5% surcharge is levied on the balance due.

If you miss this deadline the Inland Revenue automatically charges interest on the amount of tax outstanding. Interest is even added to surcharges not paid within 30 days!

[Back to top]

30 September

You must send your Tax Return to the Inland Revenue by this date if you wish the Inland Revenue to calculate your tax for you.

[Back to top]

5 October

If you know or think you have an Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax liability but have not received a Tax Return, you should inform the Inland Revenue by the 5 October following the end of the relevant tax year.

They will then have time to send a Tax Return to you and you will have time to complete it and return it to them by the deadline. If they send you a form to fill in after the 31st October the normal 31 January deadline is changed to the following:

- 2 months from the date of issue, if you want the Inland Revenue to do the tax calculation.
- 3 months from the date of issue, if you (or your tax adviser) do the tax calculation.

[Back to top]

If you miss this deadline you can still avoid penalties, surcharges and interest charges if, by 31 January, you do the following:
- send in your completed your Tax Return- calculate your tax liability
- pay your tax liability in full

31 December

You must send your Tax Return to the Inland Revenue by this date if:
- you would like the Inland Revenue to calculate your tax position, or
- you have a PAYE tax code and want any tax you owe (maximum £2,000) to be collected through this system.

If you miss this deadline
- you will have to calculate your tax bill for the year and,
- you will have to pay any tax you owe in one lump sum by the 31st of January (this may in turn trigger a payment on account for the current tax year).

[Back to top]

31 January

By this date you must have:
- sent in your completed Tax Return for the tax year which ended on the previous 5 April
- made the final payment of any tax due for that year
- made the first payment on account for the current tax year, if appropriate.

If you miss this deadline:
- For the Tax Return the Inland Revenue charges an automatic £100 penalty
- For the tax payments the Inland Revenue automatically charges interest
- take care the 28 February deadline is not missed

[Back to top]

28 February

All tax you owe for the year that ended on the previous 5 April must have been paid by the 31 January. If any of this has still not been paid by 28 February the Inland Revenue will add an automatic 5% surcharge to the amount outstanding. A further surcharge of 5% is added if you delay payment beyond 31 July.

[Back to top]

5 April

This is the last day of each tax year so by this date you should have reviewed your tax position and finances to take advantage of any tax reduction planning opportunities you may have. The common areas to review are as follows:

-Using up your annual Capital Gains Exemption
- Maximising tax free investments ISAs
- Making Personal Pension contributions or AVCs Please note that contributions can be made up to 31st January following the year end when accompanied by form PP43, however the end of the tax year is the optimum time to review this position.

[Back to top]