Stay calm and do your own tax – it’s simple
| 9th January 2019
It’s that time of the year, the skies are grey, the credit card bills are hitting the doormat and according to the latest stats, nearly one in five of you won’t even begin to do your tax until 48 hours before the deadline.
In fact, tax experts at GoSimpleTax predict that Wednesday 30th and Thursday 31st January will be the most manic midweek period of the whole 2019, as thousands of people scramble to complete their tax returns on time.
But it doesn’t need to be that bigger deal according to GoSimpleTax spokesperson Mike Parkes. In fact, if you know your monthly bills it can takes just an hour to complete and submit your self-assessment form.
Why, because GoSimpleTax offers a digital self-assessment solution that allows you to submit your tax return to HMRC without the need for an accountant.
The GoSimpleTax software also uses artificial intelligence to give users nudges and prompts to help them calculate their correct tax – for example it will remind users of expenses they may have forgotten to claim, such as road tax when they have claimed fuel, and can save them hundreds of pounds.
What makes the service really stand out from the crowd is the fact that it files its results straight to HMRC, making it a one-step and truly hassle-free method for self-assessment.
He told Viva: “I’ve been in the tax industry for more than two decades and I worked for HMRC and in accountancy practice before I joined GoSimpleTax. After all these years I know self-assessment expenses like the back of my hand and have come to know well the expenses that people most frequently forget about.
“Some people don’t realise they’re entitled to claim for these things in the first place. That’s one of the reasons why we created GoSimpleTax. We wanted to make filling in tax returns easier and to help people claim for the expenses they’re rightly entitled to claim.”
GoSimpleTax’s predictions are based on data collected during last year’s peak tax return season. In January 2018 an average of 2.7 percent of people filled-in their tax returns every day using GoSimpleTax’s tax return software.
This figure rose as much as six-fold on the last two days in the month, with 12.5 percent of people going through the process on 30th January and 16 percent completing it on 31st January.
“At GoSimpleTax we recommend that people fill in their tax returns as early as possible,” explains Mike Parkes, technical director at GoSimpleTax. “Many people have the best intentions, but it’s easy to get distracted, especially as Christmas and New Year fall just before the deadline.
“Leaving tax until the last minute can cause intense amounts of stress and many a sleepless night. We’re doing everything we can at GoSimpleTax to try and get the word out that the 30th and 31st January are far from the best times to fill in tax returns. We really want to save people anxiety by urging everyone to go through the process as soon as they can.”
It costs from just £30 and to find out more visit www.gosimpletax.com.