HMRC has encouraged self-employed workers in the UK to file their self assessment tax returns for the 2020/21 tax year early in order to beat the expected rush over the upcoming holiday season. While the deadline remains January 31 2022, the Treasury is urging freelancers to file as early as possible in order to give them as much time as possible to pay their bill or set up a payment plan.
In addition to reporting their earnings and payments for the 2020/21 tax year, this year’s tax returns will also need to declare any grants or payments that freelancers received under government COVID-19 support schemes before April 5 2021.
This could include grants from the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (aka furlough), as well as other payments, including those for people in self-isolation and grants from local authorities.
Last year’s Christmas period proved to be a busy time for self assessment tax returns, with a total of 31,400 tax returns for the 2019/20 tax year completed between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.
20,200 tax returns were filed on Christmas Eve alone, with the peak time coming between 11:00 and 11:59, during which time 2,892 returns were completed. 2,700 tax returns were filed on Christmas Day itself, while 8,500 were completed on Boxing Day.
HMRC Director General for Customer Services Myrtle Lloyd said: “Customers can beat the rush and send us their tax returns now. They have until the 31 January deadline to pay, which means they have longer to set up a monthly payment plan if they need one.”
