SELF ASSESSMENT
31 January: filing deadline for a Self-Assessment personal tax return for the previous tax year tax year ended 5 April if filed online. This is also the deadline for paying all remaining Self-Assessment taxes due for the prior tax year. The first advanced payment on account (POA) for the current tax year is also due.
31 July: due date for the second POA for the current tax year. In theory, based on the liability for the prior year, the personal tax will now be paid for the current year as the combined POA amount will default to the liability of the prior year. If the combined POA is lower than the actual liability once the personal tax return is filed, a refund is paid out by HMRC.
5 October: if you became self-employed, a sole trader, a company director or partner in a partnership in the tax year and you are not already registered for self-assessment, this is the deadline to register.
31 October: (midnight): filing deadline for paper personal tax returns for the year ending 5 April.
VAT
VAT periods are usually quarterly, although monthly or annual VAT schemes are available. A company’s VAT quarters can be amended to tie in with a company’s annual accounting year end to aid reporting.
VAT returns now need to be filed online and are always due on the 7th of the second month after the VAT period ends. For example, for a VAT period ending 31 March, a VAT return would need to be filed by 7 May. Any VAT liability not taken by Direct Debit (DD) will need to be paid on this day too.
Setting up a DD is a simpler and easier method for payments to be taken by HMRC
and the money is taken from the business account a few days later than the deadline of the 7th. To work out the exact date, the payment is taken one calendar month, one calendar week and 3 working days from the end of the VAT period.
CORPORATION TAX
If a company’s taxable profits are less than £1.5 million, the Corporation Tax payment deadline will be 9 months and 1 day from the end of the accounting period. As a set of accounts in the first year of trading is usually more than 365 days (to take it to the end of the month), there will be two tax due dates covering those accounts; one covering the first 365 days of the accounts and one for the remaining days until the Accounting Reference Date (ARD). The corporation tax will still be due 9 months and 1 day after both of those dates.
The end of your accounting period is normally the month end of the anniversary of your incorporation.
The Corporation Tax return is due to be filed with HMRC within 1 year of the end of the accounting period, even though the accounts need to be filed earlier with Companies House – within 9 months.
If a company has made more than £1.5 million in profits, the Corporation Tax will need to be paid in instalments. Assuming your company has a 12 month accounting period, your instalment dates will be:
- 6 months and 13 days after the first day of your accounting period
- 3 months after your first instalment
- 3 months after your second instalment
- 3 months and 14 days after the last day of your accounting period
PAYE AND CLASS 1 NATIONAL INSURANCE (NI)
If a company employs staff, it must pay the PAYE and Class 1 NI bill by the 22nd of the following tax month, using its Accounts Office Reference as the payment reference to enable HMRC to allocate the funds to the correct tax month. Some companies make quarterly payments to HMRC, but the payment is still due by the 22nd of the month following the end of the quarterly tax period.
If a payment is made early or late, then HMRC recommends adding 4 digits to the end of the accounts office reference to show which period the payment relates to. For example, a late payment for the month ending 05 May in the tax year 2018/19 would need ‘1901’ added to the reference, to signify the 2019 tax year and the first
month of the tax year. For quarterly payments, the tax month for the end of the quarter would be used: 1903; 1906; 1909 or 1912 depending on if the payment was for the first, second, third or fourth quarter in the tax year.
We help all sorts of small-medium sized businesses with their accounts and payroll.
We help all sorts of small-medium sized businesses with their accounts and payroll. Find out more
MEETING HMRC’S DEADLINES FOR TAX RETURNS AND PAYMENTS
For internet, telephone, BACS, BillPay, Bank Giro and Post Office counters payments, allow two working days for funds to clear with HMRC. If you pay by cheque, HMRC needs to receive this at least three working days before the payment deadline.
You can make CHAPS/GBS Transfer and Faster Payments on the payment deadline day.
