Self-assessment · N3
Self-Assessment Tax Return Accountant in Finchley
Filed accurately and early, not in the last week of January. We are based in Finchley and act for people across North London who have to file — and plenty who did not know they did.
The return itself is rarely the difficult part. What costs people money is finding out late that they were required to file, missing a relief they were entitled to, or discovering in January that the bill includes half of next year's tax as well. All three are avoidable with a few weeks' notice.
Our office is in Finchley (N3) and we prepare returns for employees, directors, sole traders, landlords and partners across North London.
Filed early, not in January
You know the figure months before you have to pay it.
Every relief checked
Pension, Gift Aid, professional subscriptions, working from home.
Payments on account explained
And reduced where your income has genuinely fallen.
Late or missing returns
Catch-up filings and dealing with HMRC where penalties have built up.
Who has to file
Being on PAYE does not exempt you. HMRC does not always write to tell you either, and "I did not know" is not a reasonable excuse once a penalty has been issued.
- Self-employment or a share of a partnership
- Income over £100,000, where the personal allowance begins to taper
- The High Income Child Benefit Charge, where a household earner crosses the threshold
- Rental income above the property allowance
- Dividends or savings interest above the allowances
- Capital gains, including a second property or a share disposal
- Untaxed foreign income, or non-domiciled status
The deadlines and what missing them costs
The online filing deadline is 31 January following the end of the tax year, and the tax is due the same day. Miss the filing date and there is an immediate £100 penalty even if no tax is owed. After three months daily penalties start accruing, and further charges follow at six and twelve months. Late payment carries separate penalties and interest on top.
If you have already fallen behind, the position is usually recoverable. We file the outstanding returns, work out what is genuinely due, and where there is a reasonable excuse we make that case to HMRC rather than assuming the penalties are fixed.
Payments on account
Once your bill passes a modest threshold, HMRC asks for the tax on 31 January and half of next year's estimate on the same day, with the other half in July. In a first profitable year that turns one expected payment into one and a half at the worst moment. It is not a penalty, but it needs planning for — and if your income has genuinely dropped, the payments can be reduced rather than paid and reclaimed.
Making Tax Digital for income tax
Self-assessment is being replaced for the self-employed and for landlords above an income threshold. Instead of one return a year there will be quarterly updates from software, and a final declaration after the year end.
It is being introduced in stages by income level, so the date it starts affecting you depends on your turnover from self-employment and property combined — not on profit, and not on each source separately, which is the detail most people get wrong when working out whether it applies to them yet.
The practical consequence is that paper records and a shoebox in January stop being an option. Anyone in scope needs bookkeeping that runs during the year. That is worth setting up calmly in advance rather than in the quarter it becomes compulsory.
What to send us, and when
The return is quick when the information arrives together and slow when it comes in pieces. What is usually needed: P60 and P45s, P11D if you have benefits, bank interest, dividend vouchers or a statement, rental income and expenses, self-employment records, pension contributions, gift aid donations, and details of anything sold at a gain.
The two most commonly forgotten are pension contributions made personally — which higher-rate taxpayers have to claim through the return to get the rest of the relief — and gift aid, for the same reason.
Sending it in September rather than January is not about our convenience. Filing early tells you the bill months before it has to be paid, and it is the only way to reduce a payment on account before it is taken.
If you have missed a return, or several
This is more common than people think and it is almost always more fixable than they fear. The thing worth knowing before anything else is that the outcome depends heavily on how HMRC finds out.
Penalties are based on behaviour
The size of a penalty is not fixed by the amount of tax. It is set by the reason for the error — a genuine mistake despite reasonable care, carelessness, or a deliberate act — and then adjusted by how much you help put it right. Telling HMRC before they ask, explaining fully and giving them access to the records can reduce a penalty very substantially, in some cases to nothing.
Coming forward is cheaper than being found
An unprompted disclosure attracts a lower penalty range than one made after HMRC has opened an enquiry. That gap is the whole reason to act now rather than wait: the same facts, disclosed in a different order, produce a materially different bill. There are formal disclosure routes for exactly this situation.
How far back it goes depends on why
The number of years HMRC can assess is longer where the failure was careless, and longer again where it was deliberate. That is another reason the characterisation matters as much as the arithmetic, and why it is worth having the conversation before writing anything down.
Bring what you have, not what you wish you had
Nobody expects complete records for a year you did not know you had to declare. Bank statements are usually enough to reconstruct a workable picture, and where a figure genuinely cannot be established there is a proper way to estimate and disclose that it is an estimate. What does not work is a silence that continues.
Frequently asked
When should I send you my paperwork?+
As soon after 6 April as you can. Filing early does not mean paying early — the payment date is still 31 January — but it means you know the figure with months to plan for it, and any refund arrives sooner.
I have not filed for a few years. What happens?+
We file the outstanding years, establish what is actually due, and deal with HMRC on the penalties. Coming forward voluntarily is treated considerably better than being found, so the sooner it starts the better the outcome.
What records do you need?+
P60 or P45, P11D if you had benefits, details of any self-employment income and expenses, rental statements, dividend vouchers, pension contributions and Gift Aid donations. If you are not sure whether something counts, send it — sorting it is quicker than guessing.
Can you deal with HMRC for me?+
Yes. Once you authorise us as your agent we can speak to HMRC on your behalf, which saves you the hold time and means the conversation is had by someone who knows what they are being asked.
Will I have to file quarterly?+
Eventually, if you are self-employed or a landlord above the income threshold. Making Tax Digital replaces the annual return with quarterly updates from software and a final declaration. It is phased in by income level, and the test is combined self-employment and property turnover rather than profit — which is what most people get wrong when checking whether it applies to them yet.
Why file early if the deadline is January?+
Because knowing the bill in September and paying it in January is a better position than finding out in January. Filing early also gives you the chance to reduce a payment on account before it is taken, which cannot be done retrospectively.
I have not filed for three years. What happens now?+
Less than you are probably imagining, provided you go first. Penalties are set by behaviour and reduced by disclosure, and an unprompted disclosure sits in a much lower range than one that follows an HMRC enquiry. The usual route is to establish the years involved, reconstruct the income from bank records, and disclose the lot together with a proposal for paying. People routinely come in expecting the worst and leave with a payment plan.
Will I go to prison?+
For an unfiled return where you come forward and cooperate, effectively no — this is dealt with through penalties and interest. Criminal prosecution is reserved for deliberate, sustained fraud, and even then is rare relative to the number of cases settled civilly. The behaviour that changes the picture is concealment after being asked, which is an argument for disclosing now rather than a reason to delay.
I do not have receipts for those years. Can anything be done?+
Yes. Bank and card statements will usually carry enough to reconstruct income and most expenditure, and where a figure cannot be established there is an accepted way to estimate it and say plainly that it is an estimate. HMRC deals with reconstructed figures routinely. An honest reconstruction is fine; a confident number you cannot support is not.
Local to you
Chartered accountants, just up the road.
We are based in Finchley and work across North London. Come in, call, or do the whole thing by email — whichever suits you.
Or call 07480 281548