Self Assessment online

[El Presidente]

Holy Moly, HMRC make it really difficult to sort things out. If you are thinking of leaving it to the last minute and have not yet registered for your

(1) Government Gateway card and
(2) Activation pin number

You are well truly Donald Ducked.

The good thing (ish) is that filling in the forms is relatively painless, and it does calculate the extra tax you have to pay

 

[Lush]

Holy Moly, HMRC make it really difficult to sort things out. If you are thinking of leaving it to the last minute and have not yet registered for your

(1) Government Gateway card and
(2) Activation pin number

You are well truly Donald Ducked.

The good thing (ish) is that filling in the forms is relatively painless, and it does calculate the extra tax you have to pay

Once you've gone through getting your codes and PINs in the post (a necessary security measure IMHO) it's a surprisingly straight-forward system to use.

The first time I used it ended by telling me that it owed me some tax, the screen asked me which bank account I'd like it paid into, and it was there within a few days.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

They were saying on the TV this morning, that if you have your ID and Pin already you must have it done by the 31st. If you don't have these, and request them now, you will be given a few days grace to complete.

I did mine on Tuesday... very easy; other than I originally got my self employed / employed status incorrect, and I ended up with a tax bill of over 14k!!

When I fixed it, it was much friendlier!

Papa

 

[bhaexpress]

Frankly, having had an issue just about every year since Self Assessment came about I now only send my details by recorded delivery. Although this is no guarantee that it will be processed the fact that I can prove they're received it is usually enough to put a stop to their annoying letters. However as Civil Servants go they are just about the most incompetent.

 

[Gwylan]

I tried filling in the online self-assessment four years running (2001 to 2003) and on not one occasion did it work.

I'm glad to hear that it's working properly now - too late for me, the nice people at the Inland Revenue decided that I didn't have to make a tax return any more so I'm spared that particular hassle.

 

[Adam Virgo's Shirt]

I know it's a bit late now, but if you are Self Employed and don't yet have access to the Government Gateway, register for your pin as soon as you receive your paper return, or letter afvising you that you need to file a return. Keep it safe then you don't have this PIN panic at filing time.

I filed mine online 2 days ago, and it took 15 minutes max. It really is much simpler than doing it on paper, and the calculations are done as you go along.

EP - I'm surprised you haven't got your PIN already though? I thought I remembered you filing online last year?

 

[El Presidente]

EP - I'm surprised you haven't got your PIN already though? I thought I remembered you filing online last year?

I did file online last year, but couldn't find my pin after my Good Lady Wife decided to have a mass tidy of my office at home.

All sorted now, and even paid by debit card over the internet, which was painless in one way, but very painful in another.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

I did file online last year, but couldn't find my pin after my Good Lady Wife decided to have a mass tidy of my office at home.

All sorted now, and even paid by debit card over the internet, which was painless in one way, but very painful in another.

Yep - mirrors my experience (but not in the way that mirrors reverse things... I mean the same)...

 

[Gwylan]

All sorted now, and even paid by debit card over the internet, which was painless in one way, but very painful in another.

Did that impact on the porn budget for the month then, Kieran?

 

[El Presidente]

Did that impact on the porn budget for the month then, Kieran?

Even I don't spend £32k on porn in a year Max

 

[Billy in Bristol]

Once you've gone through getting your codes and PINs in the post (a necessary security measure IMHO) it's a surprisingly straight-forward system to use.

The first time I used it ended by telling me that it owed me some tax, the screen asked me which bank account I'd like it paid into, and it was there within a few days.

The same for me too!

I was actually impressed how easy it was!

 

[aftershavedave]

I tried filling in the online self-assessment four years running (2001 to 2003) and on not one occasion did it work.

I'm glad to hear that it's working properly now - too late for me, the nice people at the Inland Revenue decided that I didn't have to make a tax return any more so I'm spared that particular hassle.

it's still not working properly. i attempted to submit my return on tuesday and despite having all of the necessary access codes it refused to log me in. trying to call these people is a nightmare but worthwhile: once your call is logged as a system error you will be able to appeal the fine....

 

[Lush]

it's still not working properly. i attempted to submit my return on tuesday and despite having all of the necessary access codes it refused to log me in. trying to call these people is a nightmare but worthwhile: once your call is logged as a system error you will be able to appeal the fine....

Another good reason for not leaving it until the last minute when the world and his wife are trying to log in.

 

[Gwylan]

Even I don't spend £32k on porn in a year Max

But surely you can find a way to set it off as a legitimate expense.

 

[Gazwag]

Frankly, having had an issue just about every year since Self Assessment came about I now only send my details by recorded delivery. Although this is no guarantee that it will be processed the fact that I can prove they're received it is usually enough to put a stop to their annoying letters. However as Civil Servants go they are just about the most incompetent.

I hope you posted it before 31st October then

 

[Gazwag]

I know it's a bit late now, but if you are Self Employed and don't yet have access to the Government Gateway, register for your pin as soon as you receive your paper return, or letter afvising you that you need to file a return. Keep it safe then you don't have this PIN panic at filing time.

Not quite true, you need to activate within 30 days otherwise you will have to request another

 

[bhaexpress]

I hope you posted it before 31st October then

Certainly did, mind you, the bastards have lost my forms before and even when you send them Recorded Delivery they try to deny receiving them.

 

[Adam Virgo's Shirt]

Not quite true, you need to activate within 30 days otherwise you will have to request another

You are quite right. But I was just presuming everyone would do that when they received the PIN. That was probably wrong of me

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Ive done it on-line since it started - and did it this morning ............... not wanting to leave it to the last minute. All very painless. If you have everything to hand.

 

[zego]

It is a good idea to log-in as soon as you get PIN etc, to check you can indeed get in. Can then explore the system - it mostly doesn't matter what you type in, as nothing goes to HMRC until you click the submit button (keep away from this until you really mean it, as cannot retract, only submit as corrections).

Seems to have been improved slightly worse since last year. Viewing/printing the pdf option looks much less 'similar to printed form', and no longer seems possible to include the otherwise helpful calculation sheets which HMRC never see, but which are helpful in preparing your data.

A single button click can be used to clear everything, when ready to use real data.

Be warned also about how security system can trip you up - until I contacted them, I couldn't get to see the pdf, never mind save it or print it. It turned out to be an obscure and counterintuitive setting, deep down in Internet Explorer/Tools/Advanced/Security that was blocking access, without providing any message, let alone a helpful hint.

Etc.

In other words, before you get stuck in to finding (ha!) all those missfiled receipts and tax certificates, do some driving practice!