We provide a Personal Tax Accounting service to hundreds of individuals across Scotland and the rest of the UK. We will register as your Tax Agent with HMRC, allowing us to talk to HMRC on your behalf. We will make sure that your returns are filed correctly and on time. Of course, as tax experts, we will be looking out for any tax-saving ideas that we can advise you on.
Personal Tax Accountants
If you choose Sutherland Black to be your personal tax accountants, we will file your annual self-assessment return making sure that all your sources of income have been captured and submitted to HMRC. In practice, everyone who runs a Sole Trader Business, Partnership, or Limited Company will need to file a personal tax return. If we do the accounting for your business, we can then take the financial information from your business and use that as the basis of part of your personal tax return, thus creating a seamless service.
If you have one or more buy-to-let properties, you will also need to submit a Personal Tax return to account for your rental income, making sure that we have correctly claimed for all the expenses that can reduce your tax bill. Property tax is a complex area, so expert advice can stop you from making expensive mistakes.
Personal Tax Advice
As part of our personal tax services, we will, of course, give you great personal tax advice. We are members of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) as well as being members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS), so you can be assured of the highest levels of tax advice. Whether it is how to structure your income from a Limited Company or whether to convert your buy to let portfolio to a Limited Company, we can advise you on how to save tax on your income.
We can also advise on Inheritance Tax planning, Capital Gains tax issues, and other specialist tax issues. We can advise on all aspects of your personal tax affairs.
Who Needs To Submit A Personal Tax Return?
As we have already hinted, most, if not all, business owners need to submit a personal tax return on an annual basis. There are a few technical reasons why a business owner might not need to submit a return, but it is possible to submit one even if not strictly necessary, and this can be good practice. HMRC notes the criteria for submitting a Personal Tax return. HMRC also has a handy tool that you can use to see if you need to submit a return.
Personal Tax Return Dates
The Personal Tax year in the UK runs from the 6th of April to the 5th of April each year for historical reasons that date back to the 18th Century. This means that all personal income that arises between those dates needs to be included on this return, including Dividends declared between these dates and Self Employment income with a business year-end between these dates.
The return can be submitted at any time after the 6th of April and is due to be submitted to HMRC by the 31st of January of the following year. Contrary to popular belief, Personal Tax returns can be submitted well before January! As part of our Personal Tax Services, we will submit your tax return as soon as possible after the 6th of April, as this will give you plenty of notice of the actual tax liabilities that are due.
Personal Tax Returns For Sole Traders and Partners
Sole traders and partners in a partnership need to submit a personal tax return as this is where the business’s profits are declared, and the income tax is charged. For these kinds of companies, we will do the accounts for the business and calculate the taxable profit that has been made.
Once the taxable profit has been calculated, we will fill in the Self Employment or Partnership pages as relevant, and this will feed into the calculation of the tax payable. There is an additional return to be submitted for a Partnership, the Partnership return, as well as a Personal Tax Return for each partner.
Personal Tax Returns For Directors Of Limited Companies
Typically Directors of small Limited Companies are also shareholders, so they may have dividend income as well as a PAYE salary. Directors of Limited Companies do not always have to submit a tax return if they only have PAYE income and low dividends and other income levels.
However, we always submit a Personal Tax return as part of our tax service for all of the Directors of the Limited Companies we act for, as this makes sure that we capture all their income. This return will usually capture the PAYE income and dividends that the Director has received during the tax year. We can then add in the information about any other income that the Director has to complete a full income tax return.
What else is included in a personal tax return?
Along with business income, all other types of taxable income but be included. The Personal Tax return (or SA100 in HMRC jargon) has many sections. The primary section consists of the taxpayer’s personal information and some basic income information such as interest and dividend income received.
There is then a long list of additional optional pages for all sources of income, for example, Self Employment Income and Capital Gains tax. HMRC lists the complete list of supplementary pages.
When do I need to pay my personal tax?
The question of when to pay your personal tax is not quite as simple as it may seem. The basic rule is that the tax due from the year ending the 6th of April is due by the 31st of January the following year. This is also the deadline for submitting your tax return, so if you leave submission to the last day, then the income tax and capital gains tax will be due on the same day.
As with so many things in tax, the actual situation is not quite this simple. There is a complex system of payments on account if you have certain types of untaxed income during the year. This means payments will be due on the 31st of January before the end of the tax year and the 31st of July after the end of the current tax year. These payments have the effect of bringing the tax year forward.
Other payments are due before the usual date, such as the new 30-day payment of Capital Gains Tax due on sales of residential property in the UK. If you engage us as your personal tax accountants, we will make sure you are aware of any relevant payment dates.
FAQs
Is it worth getting an accountant to do your tax?
It is a relatively straightforward task to submit a personal tax return online. However, most of our business clients choose to use our personal tax services. If we act for the business interests of the individual, it will mean that we already have most of the information necessary to submit the return making it a seamless process.
Why might I submit a Personal Tax return even if I don’t need to?
Even if you are just under the threshold for submitting a personal tax return, it can be a good idea to do so voluntarily. Submitting a personal tax return every year will double-check any PAYE tax that you have paid as the calculation for the self-assessment return will check that the correct amount of PAYE tax has been paid. Submitting every year also ensures that the income thresholds for submission are not broken accidentally.
Why should I have a tax agent?
As part of our personal tax services, we will register as your agent with HMRC. This allows us to view your tax history through our online agent portal and will enable us to speak to HMRC on your behalf. Most clients find this to be a massive benefit to them as we can deal with any issues that arise with HMRC saving them both time and aggravation. We can usually sort any issues with HMRC in a much more timely fashion than our clients as we are dealing with HMRC on a daily basis.
Talk to Sutherland Black about personal tax services
Get in touch today by completing this quick form. One of our Directors will call you back to see how we can help you with your tax issues. We will then provide a tailored proposal for you to act as your personal tax accountants. Once you have accepted this, your dedicated client manager will ensure that you are up and running with our tax accounting services in no time.
