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As the last week or so ticks by until the widely publicised HMRC filing deadline of the 31st October 2008 for paper Self Assessment Returns, it has just come to my notice that some people are not aware of the twists that the Tax Office have put on Partnership and Trust Tax Returns. For personal Tax Returns, the filing deadline for a paper form is the 31st October 2008, and the 31st January 2009 for an electronic version.
More and more people are opting to try and file their own forms (never advisable) using either the paper option or the free Tax Office software with all the codes you need to apply for. I am not discussing here whether this is a good thing or a bad thing for people to do, but hardly anyone I have spoken to realizes that different rules apply to Partnership and Trust Returns. Few normal people are involved with trusts, but there are a lot of businesses run as partnerships - so this applies to you. The free software provided by HMRC is only for personal returns. You cannot use it for partnership forms at all. So... if you were planning on filing your own and your Partnership Tax Return yourself, your only options are to file a paper Partnership form by the 31st October 2008, or buy commercial software that will deal with Partnership forms. The reality is that some people will inevitably incur a penalty for filing a paper partnership form late once they realize it can't be done like their own personal form and then find out the cost of most commercial software is the same as an accountant doing it for them - which is the preferred option anyway. So remember - partnership returns done yourself on paper have to be filed by 31st October 2008 - no exceptions. Even if you have paid all the tax due by the 31st January 2009, the £100 penalty for the late partnership form will stand. ~Ray |
