I've just filed my first self-assessment tax return, the deadline of which incidentally coincides with the anniversary of me entering the world of self-employed madness. After spending the past couple of months worrying about it but not actually starting it until a couple of days ago, here are my tips for not cocking it up or driving yourself around the bend:
Sort your receipts out on a monthly basis
The day I became self-employed, I proclaimed that I was going to sort my receipts out once a month. I'd heard this was the thing to do from various friends 'in-the-know' and it all seemed so simple. Well, earlier this week I was ransacking the house looking for receipts, my P60 from my old job, and found myself sitting on a bed with a years worth of paper! Never again! Even if you can't be arsed to be doing a spreadsheet, or totting them up each month, I do highly recommend that you at least put away receipts in labeled envelopes!
Use the Government Gateway password when you get it
The wonders of the internet ensure that people like me can leave it to the wire but you do actually need a special password that they issue so that the service becomes available on your account. Register for it, wait for it to come through the post, and I recommend that you don't leave it till a few days before to try it out.
I spent nearly 40 minutes repeatedly putting the password in where the stupid letter told me to, only to find that it kept saying it was incorrect. Turned out that the dodos should have mentioned that I actually needed to use the password at the HMRC site... I actually felt panic rising at the thought of having to get it reissued and a possible fine for late submission.
Don't keep receipts in your purse, handbag, and definitely not your changing bag
I cleaned out my handbags (I have many) the other day and some receipts had been impacted by cosmetics, nappy wipes, and all sorts to the point where I couldn't even make out the amount! Don't stuff them with notes or change because as I have discovered, if you take your cash out of your purse in a rush, they will flutter out of your purse all over the floor of the shop as you curse in frustration!
In fact, don't stuff receipts all over the house
I seem to have had moments of organisation where I put a load of receipts (unsorted) in envelopes. It's just a shame that they were in my knicker drawer, behind the cookbooks, at the bottom of a basket of stuff from around the house labelled 'crap to sort out'....
Don't leave your filing in the vicinity of a toddler
I sorted out the first batch of receipts into carefully organised piles and turned my back to do something else. The bambino had, quick as lightening, abandoned crayoning and ransacking my drawers to get on the bed and throw my receipts around like a lottery winner....
Read the convoluted instructions (or call up the helpline)
I have a bit of pregnancy brain (OK a lot of it) going on at the moment but I still insist that the online submission is not as straightforward as they suggest, especially if you were an employee for part of the year before you became self-employed.
That and the fact that a load of the links where they send you to something for further help don't work. Not one to fanny around for too long as I'm easily distracted from the serious task of doing my tax (there just always seems to be something more exciting to do like watching paint dry), I called up the helpline...twice...in one hour... So much easier although I'm sure they're sick of me.
Er...put aside some money to pay your tax bill
Another thing people always say is to put aside some money to give to the bank bailout tax man. I used to think they were talking out of their arse until I read the instructions properly and you have to pay the tax owed when you file the return. I see the tax man doesn't do IOU's or layaway plan options...
Handing over money that you've literally burned the midnight oil for and driven everyone batty over as you've juggled being self-employed, motherhood, a house that doesn't tidy itself, and life makes you want to weep! I realise now that there was a lot to be said for being mugged once a month by payroll and having the money deducted before you could think about it...