02 10 2017

HMRC Announces Simpler 'Self-Assessment' Tax Regime

UK self-assessment taxpayers may no longer have to file returns or will have their compliance burden significantly reduced under the tax agency's plans to partly or fully fill returns automatically.

From this month, HM Revenue and Customs will use information available to it to fill out returns for new state pensioners with income greater than the personal tax allowance in the tax year 2016 to 2017; and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) taxpayers who have underpaid tax and who cannot have that tax collected through their tax code.

All existing state pensioners who complete a tax return because their state pension is more than their personal allowance will be removed from self-assessment in the tax year 2018 to 2019, HMRC said.

Taxpayers with more complex affairs that use self-assessment will only be asked for information needed to assess their tax, benefits, and credits. HMRC will complete the rest of the information automatically.

HMRC will write to taxpayers from September 2017 with a tax calculation. This could be a P800 or a Simple Assessment letter (PA302). The letter will show their income from pay, pensions, state benefits, savings interest, and employee benefits. Taxpayers need to only check the information is correct. If it is, they can pay their bill online or by check by the deadline in the letter, HMRC said.

Taxpayers who think any information is incorrect have 60 days to contact HMRC.