Tax Return Challenge

Anyone else looking forward to a celebratory glass of vino tonight after successfully completing your tax return? Well quite frankly STOP! Seriously I did mine last week slacker 😉 All joking aside, it might be a whole 365 days until you have to file the next one but why wait, (well bar the obvious being unable to file it until the tax year actually ends) start getting yourself in order NOW! Why not break a habit of a life time and get yourself organised.

I challenge you to have filed your tax return before January 2018.

filing a tax return tips

Say no to carrier bags full of receipts : 

A whole year’s worth of receipts is appalling and yet I’m not the only person who bungs them in a box/bag and forgets about them. Not only does this only give you a loose estimation of your actual earnings and cash flow but it takes longer to sort through in January then it would on a monthly basis. Set a date in your diary once a month to go through and add your receipts and incomings to your spreadsheets. Or put them on your desk, DO NOT put away until they have been impute. I get so stressed by clutter on my desk that I couldn’t cope with them after a day or two.  Ever gone to enter data on your spreadsheet and have no idea what it was for? Yup! Filing straight away solves this issue.

Deadlines for next year :

Preparation is key.  The deadlines never change. It’s our habits that need to change.

  • By paper: Return tax for year 2016-2017 due by 31st October 2017
  • Online: Return tax for year 2016-2017 due by 31st January 2018

Get some advice :

Completing your accounts early and keeping up enables you to see where your small business is heading. My word for the year is “double“. I plan to double my social media, time, traffic and income. However I can’t visually see if my income is increasing if I don’t keep my finances up to date.  Seek taxation services, an accountant can take the time to look through and provide the sound, efficient tax advice that you need to build your business. By understanding what you want to achieve and how your business works your tax adviser can help trim the fat and increase your income. Sometimes when you work in the business it can be hard to see the wood from the trees.

Do yourself a favour : 

Learn from your mistakes.  Why oh why oh why are you spending January stressing out. Running a round trying to find scraps of paper. Making your way through a years worth of bank statements? Surely an hour a month on your accounts is far more productive and better for your mental health than loosing the whole of January.   If the way in which you organise your accounts is counterproductive then you need to make a change.

So who is with me? Can you file your Tax Return before January 2018? Can you?

accountant

Further Reading : 

File Your Tax Return with Minimal Hassle

Outsourcing Accounts. My Perfect Accountant




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