Frequently Asked
Answers to our most common questions
What is a payment on account?
Payments on account are advance payments towards your tax bill (including national insurance if you’re self-employed). These are based on your liability for the year before (i.e. 50% of last years liability is payable as a 1st POA and 50% as the 2nd).
What if my income is lower than it was last year?
If you know your tax bill is going to be lower than last year, you can request to reduce your payments on account.
What are the penalties for not completing a tax return?
The penalties start at £100, in the UK, they increase up to a maximum of £1,600. On the IOM, the maximum penalty is £300.
Do I have to submit a self assessment?
In the IOM, every tax resident must submit a self assessment
In the UK, the rules are different, HMRC’s tool is very helpful and can be found here.
I am from the UK and I only started my self employment recently, do I still need to submit a tax return?
If your self employed income is greater than £1,000 you are required to submit a return. However if you have had PAYE income during the last year, it is advisable to submit a tax return declaring your self employed income as you may be due a refund on your PAYE taxes.
If you do lose a receipt but have evidence on a bank statement, this will suffice. But bear in mind that if the tax office request evidence, you should be able to provide details of the expenses you have claimed.
It is always worth noting that any expense that you do not keep records of will result in more tax to be paid (and NI)!
I haven't kept any records of my expenses, but they are not very high, can I still claim something?
In the UK, HMRC gives a trading allowance of £1,000 so if your expenses are less than £1,000, you can claim this instead, if your expenses are greater than £1,000 it is worth pulling together what you have and claiming the actual expenses incurred.
Currently, no such allowance is available on the IOM but contact us to discuss how we may still be able to help.
I am a landlord, what records must I keep?
Any expenses incurred on the rental property should be kept, if they cannot be claimed as an expense in the year they were incurred, they can be claimed as capital expenditure when you come to sell the property. All income should be recorded, including any fees charged by the letting agency. Simply put, if it reduced the income you receive, you can almost always claim it, one way or another.
How long should I keep my records?
As a rule, 6 years in minimum.
I am a sole trader and work in construction, why has my invoice had 20% deducted from it?
This is a deduction for the Construction Industry Scheme. Click here for more information.
Important Dates
| UK | Isle of Man | |
| When does the tax year run from and until? | 6th Apr – 5th Apr | 6th Apr – 5th Apr |
| When must I submit my tax return? | 31st Jan | 6th Oct |
| What is the deadline for paying my tax? | 31st Jan | 6th Jan |
| When are payments on account due? | 31st Jan & 31st Jul | 6th Oct & 6th Jan |
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