Help! I haven’t started my tax return

HMRC have announced an effective extension to the self-assessment tax filing deadline, meaning that you have until 28 February to file your taxes without getting a penalty.

Over four million people have still to file, and Community has linked up with untied, the personal tax app, to help get it sorted.

untied have produced a helpful checklist which covers the essential information around deadlines and what you need to do to beat it. You don’t need to be an untied user to use the checklist, and you can download it from here.

untied tell us that there are five main reasons for people missing the deadline:

• Not knowing the deadline
• Not realising the need to file / not being registered to file (anyone with self-employment or property income over £1,000 needs to file unless HMRC tell them otherwise)
• Missing the Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) – a ten digit code which can be checked here / forgetting the HMRC login (for this reason untied offers untied Express Submit which lets you file without needing an HMRC login)
• Worry that something’s missing. In this case, untied advises to file anyway – you can easily submit an amendment if you then need to
• Worry about paying – taxpayers now have up to 1 April to pay your tax without getting a penalty (there may be a small amount of interest) and can also arrange payment plans with HMRC – untied have an indication of what you’ll pay here

Community users enjoy a discount of 25% on untied Pro by going to: www.untied.io/communitytu

If you are a member of Community and need help or advice, please contact us at help@community-tu.org or on 0800 389 6332.