Fill in Your Tax Return

Of course you don’t want to fill in you tax return, nobody does but you have to. The more prepared for it you are and the longer you leave yourself to tackle it, the less painful the whole experience will be. So take a deep breath, get yourself a cup of tea, shut the door and let’s get started.

Prepare Your Paperwork

Unless you have all your paperwork together then you won’t be able to fill in your tax return properly. If you have been keeping track of things as you go along then you should already have records of your earnings and expenses. Print them off so you have them in front of you along with any other relevant details that you need and make sure you have gathered all the right paperwork to fill in.

Stay Calm

There are so many pages to a tax return that it can seem very complicated and leave you totally overwhelmed. Take a deep breath and the time to read through all the instructions. Once you have understood them you will realise you do not need to fill in a lot of the sections and it will be clearer what is required of you. You have the choice to fill it in on paper or online so pick the way that you are most uncomfortable with.

Know Your Figures

If you plan to entirely complete the tax return on your own then you will need to understand all the figures. You must understand what expenses you can claim for, what tax relief you are entitled to and what percentages your tax is calculated at. You can get all this information from the inland revenue and ways to calculate the figures are included with your tax return.

Ask For Help

If numbers are not your thing or you haven’t got the time or patience to complete your tax return then you may want to get someone else to help you. There are two ways to do this. Either, fill your return in before 30th September and the inland revenue will calculate your tax for you, or for more in depth help then find yourself an accountant that can take charge of your finances for you.

Leave Time

Leaving your tax return until the last minute will only make you more stressed and likely to make mistakes. However much you procrastinate, you are going to have to do it eventually so give yourself time to stay relaxed and focused. If you get it in late then you will be liable for charges and may have to pay interest in the money that you owe.

It may not be fun but it is unavoidable so the easier you can make filling in your tax return, the better. Stay calm and give yourself enough time to understand the paperwork and get together all the figures that you need. If you find yourself too overwhelmed or haven’t got the time or patience to fill it in, then call in the experts and let them tackle the task for you.