January 13th, 2017.



Freelancers and micro-business owners who have yet to register their business with HMRC are rapidly running out of time if they want to get their Self Assessment tax return submitted to HMRC, FreeAgent warns.

The company – who provide award-winning cloud accounting software for freelancers, micro-businesses and their accountants – warns business owners that failing to register for Self Assessment in the next week will mean they are unlikely to be able to submit their tax return on time and will be fined by HMRC.

Emily Coltman FCA, chief accountant at FreeAgent, says, ‘Before you can submit your Self Assessment tax return you must first register with HMRC and get your unique activation code sent to you by post. You simply cannot file your return without this.

‘It’s a relatively straightforward process but, as you’re relying on snail mail to get your code, it can take a while to receive the information you need. And if you leave it too late, you won’t get your code in time to be able to meet the January 31st deadline.’

Coltman adds, ‘Remember that HMRC doesn’t accept failing to register in time as an acceptable excuse for filing a tax return late, so if you don’t get your code and you can’t submit your Self Assessment return, you’ll receive an automatic £100 fine. In addition, if you don’t pay your tax you’ll also face extra financial penalties which can quickly escalate.

‘It’s better to act quickly and register with HMRC now than risk leaving it until it’s too late.’

During the last Self Assessment season, 870,000 people fail to submit their tax return before the....


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