How to feel better about not having filed your tax return yet!

You’ve got loads of things to do and, generally, client work always comes first. So, I totally understand why you might not have filed your tax return in April. This is why you should:

👉 Show yourself some compassion about your lack of filing, and

👉 Remember to celebrate whatever you have achieved, even if you only end up filing one day earlier than the previous year.

Any progress is worth shouting about📣!

To those of you who’ve filed already, well done👏 Even if you got help from someone, that’s still worth celebrating; if you did it all on your own, whoo hoo👏!

The reason I encourage you to be compassionate about not having completed your tax return is that, whilst I’ve filed in April some years, other years I’ve been later. I’ve no excuses for a lack of understanding yet it still took me four months to do it one year. (I’ll also admit I’d still to file the company accounts in August that year BUT I had been doing a little bit here and there so I was almost ready on those.)

So, why was I not filing immediately? I’d been busy with client work, in addition to development work. That said, I wasn’t consciously making enough time for them either BUT I was keeping a close eye on everything.

And so I wanted to let you know that it’s okay if you’re not filing your tax return ASAP.

Celebrate any progress you’ve made towards getting there!

Celebrate the small steps you’re taking to file your return. Even making a conscious effort to pay some attention to your finances and tax return is a huge step worth celebrating.

Think you’ve stalled?

This might help. Try thinking of difficult tasks as being like hill-walking. The path may climb, then drop down, then level out, then climb again several times over before you get to the top. At times, you’ll simply stop for a rest or take another path for a change of scenery. Small steps forward, though, will eventually get you to the top!

Support for completing your return

To help you file your UK tax return, we’ve pulled together nine of the most popular self-assessment questions we’ve been asked lately:

👉 Read or listen to the blog post 9 self-assessment questions answered to do your tax return.

Get more detailed help from the Hub’s bite-sized online courses. These are free to Financial Resilience Hub members. Non-members can buy each course for £49.99 – or follow us on LinkedIn for special offers and more free-to-read blog posts to help you achieve financial resilience. Read or listen to:

👉 The Step by step guide to filing your Tax Return for simple, supportive guidance

👉 What expenses can I claim as a sole trader? or What expenses can my limited company claim?

📢❕ The information in this blog post was correct at the time of writing. Please check with your accountant for the latest information or, if you don’t have an accountant, join the Financial Resilience Hub to get access to one of ours! Alternatively, keep an eye on HMRC’s website for updates.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Helen Monaghan is a Chartered Management Accountant, accredited NLP Practitioner & Finance Coach. Both a psychology graduate and an accountancy graduate, she has authored three business books, which beautifully bring together psychology, finance, and tax to empower the reader about money. Helen is the CEO of HM Finance Coaching & Advisory Ltd, a company that provides financial education and business mindset coaching to small businesses across the UK, in addition to accountancy services for limited companies in Scotland and across the UK. Helen is also the founder of The Financial Resilience Hub – find out how we can support you, and your business, to be financially resilient through our monthly membership.

© Helen Monaghan