Tax

Tax Filing Deadlines Approaching For British Expats

British expats who still pay tax in the UK need to take note of the upcoming rolling deadlines for notifying and completing tax returns.

October is a key month as any new income source or realised capital gains have to be notified to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Failing to notify can lead to a penalty.

Expats should report rents, self-employed income or gains from selling buy to let property or other assets.

Once the notifications are posted, dealing with self-assessment tax returns is the next issue.

The self-assessment deadlines

Paper self-assessment returns must be received at a tax office by midnight on October 31, 2016.

Tax rules do not say the return should be filed at specific office, just at any office. HMRC should date stamp receiving the return and then send the document to the relevant office.

HMRC will not sign for record or special delivery opens.

For expats who want their tax collected through a personal tax coding, the self-assessment should be filed online by midnight on December 31, 2016.

HMRC will ignore any instruction to collect money through a personal tax coding if the return is filed later.

To qualify, a taxpayer should owe less than £3,000 in income or capital gains tax.

As usual all self-assessment tax returns should be filed by January 31, 2017 for the tax year ending April 5, 2016.

Registering for tax with HMRC

This is also the deadline for paying any tax due for the year – even if the tax returns were filed in October or December.

January 31 is also the due date for the first advance payment on tax for the 2016-17 tax year.

HMRC recommends not waiting until the last minute to file tax returns online to avoid any technical problems.

Taxpayers need a unique tax reference (UTR) to file online and should do so by October 5, but will not face any penalties as long as any tax due is paid in full by the following January 31.

Registration for online filing can take up to 20 working days, warns HMRC, so taxpayers wanting to take advantage of the December 31 deadline need to apply by November 25, 2016 at the latest.

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