Self Assesment and Tax Coding

[Bill]

I'm a higher rate tax payer and have always filled in a tax return each
year. The IR have now told me they won't require me to submit a tax form and
my latest PAYE code looks like they have adjusted my tax code to account for
savings and job expenses. Great, but these can only be estimates and in all
probability will be incorrect meaning I will under/over pay tax. So will I
still have to fill in a return making the whole exercise pointless ?

On a positive note the PAYE coding letter is the clearest document I ever
seen from the IR, everything (almost) clearly explained on 2 sides of A4.

 

[whitely525]

I'm a higher rate tax payer and have always filled in a tax return each
year. The IR have now told me they won't require me to submit a tax form and
my latest PAYE code looks like they have adjusted my tax code to account for
savings and job expenses. Great, but these can only be estimates and in all
probability will be incorrect meaning I will under/over pay tax. So will I
still have to fill in a return making the whole exercise pointless ?

Only if you want your tax to be correctly and accurately calculated.

 

[Roger Mills]

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,

Only if you want your tax to be correctly and accurately calculated.

Indeed. Do your own tax calculations using a spreadsheet - or, if you
prefer, on the back of an envelope - and compare tax due with what you have
actually paid. You can then decide whether it would be in your interests to
fill in a tax return.
--
Cheers,
Roger
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[Bill]

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,


Indeed. Do your own tax calculations using a spreadsheet - or, if you
prefer, on the back of an envelope - and compare tax due with what you
have actually paid. You can then decide whether it would be in your
interests to fill in a tax return.

So essentially I should always request a tax form.
If they owe me money, I want it back. If I owe them money I'd better pay up
or risk fines & and interest etc.

Maybe I worry too much.

 

[whitely525]

So essentially I should always request a tax form.
If they owe me money, I want it back. If I owe them money I'd better pay up
or risk fines & and interest etc.

Many people may be short-changed by this new IR practice. Not just top
rate
tax payers. However, it should be pretty obvious if you have things
unaccounted
for in PAYE, in which case you need to get a return.

Remember PAYE = "Pretty Accurate Yet not Exact"

 

[Roger Mills]

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,

So essentially I should always request a tax form.
If they owe me money, I want it back. If I owe them money I'd better
pay up or risk fines & and interest etc.

That's not what I said!

You don't need a tax form to work out your tax bill. Just add up all your
sources of income, deduct your allowances, and then work out the first so
much at 10%, so much at 22%, rest at 40%. You'll need the same information
as you would put on a form - but you don't actually need to put it on a
form - just do the calculation manually, or in a spreadsheet.

If you're totally incapable of doing that, you can access the forms on-line
and fill them in - but don't actually submit them unless it's in your
interest to do so.

If the PAYE system charges you too little tax because you have sources of
income which the tax man doesn't know about, you do have a legal duty to
tell him. But, if you've given him all the information, it's not
unreasonable to expect him to get your tax code right. If despite this, you
end up paying too little tax, keep quiet unless the tax man explicitly
requires you to fill in a tax form. He ain't likely to find out and, in the
event of any subsequent problems, and you have the reasonable defence that
you had assumed that the PAYE system would get it right.
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

 

[Andy Pandy]

So essentially I should always request a tax form.
If they owe me money, I want it back. If I owe them money I'd better pay up
or risk fines & and interest etc.

Or do it online - it's pretty quick and easy if you've only employment income and
standard investment income (UK interest/dividends etc).

Don't forget to make a note of all Gift Aid payments and claim for these (it's
suprising the things you can get gift aid for, eg zoo entrance fees, brownies subs
etc).