Tax day only comes around once a year, just like your birthday. The only difference is, in comparison to your birthday, staying on top of your taxes feels like a year-round job, and it’s certainly no fun. Whether you’re someone that works a 9-5, or a small business owner that’s just starting to take wind, doing taxes can be pretty hard, and oftentimes, overly time-consuming and stressful.
Nonetheless, whether you’re doing your taxes yourself, or thinking of using tax planning services, here are 5 things you probably don’t know about taxes, and between the two of us, we think you should!
31st October Is a Really Important Date
Tax experts can’t stress the importance of deadlines enough, and in the UK, 31st October is the date to focus on. This isn’t just to give you a deadline for doing your taxes, but anything you have to do to avoid paying taxes in excess or getting a handsome tax return in the following year has to be done before this date.
If you leave it for the end of the year, it’ll be too late, and you’ll come to regret not taking our advice!
Pay Special Attention To Your Expenses – and Your Earnings
This point is especially true if you’re someone that works independently or works for himself/herself. Pay special attention to the expenses of your personal business, and the amount that you’re earning on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis.
This makes it easier for you to file taxes effectively, and if you’re planning to use tax planning services in the future, you’ll have thorough documentation of your work that cuts out the work for them, making for a smooth process.
There’s No Such Thing As A “Small Tax Question”
As long as we’ve been in the finance field, if there’s one thing we can tell you straight on, it’s that there’s no such thing as a “little tax question”. Rules, regulations, laws – in the tax world, they have always been predominantly evolving, and every single tax situation is highly specific to each individual.
The point is, when you’re doing your taxes, or getting help from a service, make sure to be as specific as you can be, and put everything on the table. The more you miss out on explaining, the worse it can get for you, and that’s something we don’t want now, do we?
Understand The Difference Between Personal And Business Tax
Personal tax is the sum of all the taxes you file on the earnings you receive as an individual, while that for business is the taxes on the earnings of your business. However, if you’re someone that owns a business where the owner, employee, and everything in between is solely you, it will still be treated as a separate business entity.
That’s’ why it’s important to keep that in mind when you’re doing your taxes, so you don’t get the two terminologies mixed up, and end up doing your taxes a bit wrong!
Take Home
Doing your taxes can be a hassle, but one wrong move and it can all come crashing down. That’s why we made this insightful guide to shine a light on some of the key points in filing your taxes that can often go overlooked, ones that are too important to make a mistake in.
Make sure to read the above guide to the fullest, and understand the key points we’ve laid out to file your taxes just right and avoid any uninvited tax-enforcing guests to your house.