Tax rebate forms can be quite complicated if you have never attempted to complete one before. Everyones situation is likely to be different but in this blog post we wanted to highlight some general tips and advice when completing your tax rebate forms and submitting them to the government:

1. Complete all the forms that are required.

Make sure that you submit all the forms that are required for your circumstances.  You normally need to wait around 6-8 weeks for a tax rebate and this is likely to double for anyone who forgets to include any relevant form with their application. Some things to remember:

• P38 – If you are a student include this form with your application
• p91 – Employment history, everyone should include this.
• P85 – Leaving the country form
• P86 – Arriving in the country form

2. Keep a copy of any Tax Documents

Your tax documents are very important and when you are given them by your employer you should keep them safe for at least 6 years. When you submit any application for a tax rebate you should include them with your claim and make a copy for your own records. If you have lost them, you can get a replacement by asking your current or former employer for a ’statement of earnings’ on company headed paper. Your employer will be required by law to provide a statement of earnings under the Data Protection Act, however they can charge a small administration fee for the trouble. It is much easier and advisable to simply keep any tax record given to you by your employer and this will save any confusion in the future or any trouble getting a replacement if for example your previous employer were to go into liquidation.

3. Don’t leave it to the last minute.

We all procrastinate by nature. When it comes to claiming a tax rebate it really isn’t the best idea . You may think you have a long time to make a claim but invariably people forget and/or loose a tax document.  Also if you leave your tax rebate too long it will expire. Currently the time limit to make a claim is 6 years but the government will be changing that shortly. Often refunds can amount to thousands so don’t loose the opportunity.

4. Follow up on your claim

Often letters get lost and applications get filed in the wrong place. The government states that the onus is on the tax payer to make any claims and it is also advisable to check up and chase your local tax office if you have not heard anything from them in 8 weeks of sending in your application.

Related Articles:

• Tax rebate form online
• How to claim my tax back
• Applying for an income tax rebate
• Tax refund when moving abroad

The first month of the new decade has already been and gone, and so has the first tax return deadline! Below are a list of some of our most popular articles of the month:

• Work visas and tax rebates
• Applying for an Income Tax Rebate
• How do I find out if I am due a Tax Rebate
• BR Tax Code
• Tax rebate – How do I apply for one?
• How do I get a tax refund?
• Tax refund eligibility
• Who needs to do a tax return?
• Tax rebate form online
• Am I entitled to a tax rebate?

Many people are looking for new sources of income in these times of economic uncertainty, and they certainly do not want to them lose a chunk of it to the Inland Revenue. If you have a spare bedroom, it could be a great asset. Letting a spare room or taking in a lodger can literally be money for nothing. If you declare the income under the rent-a-room scheme, it is completely tax-free too.

What are the Rules for a Rent-a-Room Scheme?

There are a few rules and conditions. The room or rooms must be let furnished and it must be your family home – the place where you actually live. This tax-free benefit does not apply if you have split your home into flats or if you own the house but live elsewhere.

How Much Can I Earn Tax-Free?

If you have more than one spare room, you can take in more than one lodger. The rent-a-room scheme income is capped for 2009-10 at £4,250 a year tax-free, which is just over £81 per week. Anything more than this will be taxable, but if it is your only income, it can be offset against part of your annual allowance.

I Don’t Own My Home, I am a Tenant. Can I Still Use this Scheme?

Yes, if you rent the house yourself and then sub-let rooms to others then you can still take advantage of the Rent-a-Room scheme. However, you need to check that your lease allows you to take a lodger.

Are There Any Disadvantages to the Scheme?

The difference between a normal let and using the rent-a-room scheme is that with this scheme you cannot deduct any expenses for wear and tear, insurance, electricity bills etc. You have to declare all the income received, and if it exceeds the allowance, it is taxable.

Do I Need to Notify the Tax Office?

If you do not normally receive a tax return and your income is below the threshold for the scheme, you do not need to do anything.

If your income exceeds the tax-free threshold you need to tell your local tax office. When you complete your tax return, declare the income for renting the room in the relevant space in the property section, or tell you tax adviser when they complete your return for you

Related Articles:

• Inland Revenue tax returns for property landlords
• Tax return for rental property
• Self assessment tax return 2009-2010

You should seek the advice of a trained professional for your indivdual circumstances. None of the above can be taken as advice, it is mearly informal.

Yesterday we received an Email purporting  to be from the UK  Inland Revenue. The Email says that there is an ‘unreported income’ issue and  ask you to press on the link within the Email to view your statement. This Emails follows another Email that we received recently, again pretending to be from the UK Inland Revenue, saying that we were due a tax rebate.

We have included a screenshot of  the Email below. If you do get an Email similar to this please do not press on any of the links and mark the Email as Spam immediately. If you have received a similar Email please let us know in the comments so that we can make people aware before they get scammed.

Below is a list of the articles that we wrote in December. Let us know if you have any topics you would like us to cover in the following months:

• Tax rebate requirements
• Am I entitled to a tax rebate?
• Non resident tax refund
• Non UK national tax rebate
• Petrol tax relief on car mileage
• CIS tax return online
• Seafarers tax refund
• Self assessment tax return 2009-2010

The majority of people in employment pay tax, and a large number of those tax-payers have an incorrect tax code. The most common reason that people pay too much tax is that their tax code is incorrect. It may reflect a previous tax liability which may have resulted in a lower tax code and the code has not since been updated.

A profitable New Year resolution should be to check your tax code and get it corrected before April, when the next tax year begins.

What is a Basic Tax Code?

The basic tax allowance for everyone under the age of 65 for the year ending 5 April 2010 is £6435. That means you should not pay any income tax if you earn less than that amount. Your tax code should be 643 and will be suffixed with a letter, usually an L.

Basically your tax code when multiplied by 10 will indicate the amount you can earn tax free and the letter indicates the conditions which might apply to the tax code.

What is an Emergency Tax Code?

Often if you work a second job or if you fail to provide a P45 to your new employer you may be put on an emergency tax code. If you are put on an emergency tax code your tax free allowance will not be allocated to you and there is a good chance that you will overpay tax.

I am Over 65. What is my Basic Tax Code?

The good news is that those over the age of 65 can earn slightly more before having to pay tax on their income, whether it is earned from a part-time job, or unearned income from interest on savings. The personal allowance is £9490 and is usually suffixed with the letter P. The married allowance for those over the age of 65 is £6475.

What are Current tax rates?

The lower 10% tax rate has now been abolished and the rate of tax on the first £37,400 in the tax year 2009-2010 is 20%. A higher rate of 40% is due on taxable earnings over this figure.

Of course all these figures are subject to change each tax year, which begins on April 6, so make sure you get a new (higher) tax code to reflect the new allowances.

Further Reading:
1. The income tax system
2. Claiming back emergency tax
3. How to claim a tax rebate

With snow affecting both the UK and US more people are leaving the country for the winter, moving to warmer climates such as Australia and Spain.

This week we are going to answer some common questions on claiming a tax refund when leaving the UK. If you have any additional questions, be sure to ask them in the comments below.

1.   Can I claim a tax refund when leaving the UK?
Everyone that works in the UK is given a tax free allowance which is allocated throughout the year in your pay. If you leave the country part way through the tax year you will not get your full allowance and as a result you will be able to claim a tax rebate.

2. Will I be able to claim all the tax that I have paid back?
This will depend on how much you have earned in the tax year. If you have earned below the tax free allowance then you will be able to claim all the tax back. If you have earned over you can use our tax rebate calculator to check to see what proportion you can claim back.

3. How do I claim my tax refund?
You need to firstly inform the Inland Revenue that you are leaving the country, you can do this by completing a P85 form. You will also need to complete a P86 if you have not already done so. Once complete, send your P60 and P45 to your local tax office together with a cover letter, letting them know about your situation.

4. How long does the tax refund take to process?
It depends on how busy your speific tax office is, usually though, refunds usually take between 30-45 days. To speed up the process make sure that you include all relevant information as well as making a copy of all records you send.

5. How many years can I claim a refund for?
You can currently claim as far back as 6 years. So if you worked in the UK anytime in the last 6 years, make sure that you do not let your entitlement slip away.

Disclaimer: The above information can not be taken as advice and is for illustration purposes only. Please call Tax Fix before making any claims or confirmation. Tax Fix can not accept any liability for action taken and any losses incurred.

Due to the decline in property prices over the last year, we have seen an increase in the number of people renting their properties instead of selling at a loss. If you are making a profit of over £2,500 on the rental of your property you will need to complete a tax return.  We have compiled a list of five tips for any landlords that needs to complete  a tax return this year:

1. Make the most of your allowable tax deductions:

You can reduce your tax liability by offsetting any expenses that you accrued. These could include:

• letting agent’s, and lawyers/legal fees
• building and contents insurance costs
• loan interest
• maintenance and repairs -improvement costs are not allowed
• rent, ground rent and property service charges
• Council Tax
• advertising your property to rent
• other costs such as phone calls

 2. Offset loses from other properties

If you are lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you see it!)  to be renting more then one property you can offset losses from one property with gains from another. Also losses which relate to capital allowances may be offset against total income of the current year or subsequent years.

3.  Keep records

If the profit from your property rental is less than £2,500 and you are employed, you can ask for a change in your tax code instead of completing a tax return. Either way, make sure that you keep a record of all your income and expenses for at least six years, as the Inland Revenue could ask at any time to see your figures.

  4. Rent a Room

If you really dislike paying tax on your property, one way around it is to rent out one of the rooms instead of the whole property.  The government have introduced a tax exemption to anyone who rents a room in their house for up to £4,250 a year.  However if the property is jointly owned then this exemptions is cut in half to £2,125.

 5. Gain on Capital Gains

Capital gains on your primary principle residence (PPR) are free from capital gains tax. If however you rent your property you would be forgiven for thinking that the property is no longer your primary residence.  If the property has ever been your PPR, then it is always deemed to be your PPR for the last three years of ownership even if you have rented it out.

Related Articles:

• Tax returns for rental properties
• Inland Revenue property Tax returns

Please note that all the information above and contained on this site is for general reading purposes and should not be regarded as tax advice or help. You should not rely on the above data or information to make (or not make) any personal financial decisions. Always remember to get professional advice for your own particular situation.

ActionAid recently announced their Outlandish Revenue Service campaign, which we wanted to let all our readers know about. The campaign has been created to raise awareness of the fact multinational companies dodge $160bn worth of taxes to developing countries every year. Unbelievably, this is more than they receive in aid from developed nations!

ActionAid wants to challenge the Treasury Minister responsible for tax, Stephen Timms, on what the British Government is doing to address tax justice.They are encouraging readers to write questions about what you want answered by Stephen Timms.  ActionAid has been given the opportunity to film an interview with the minister and they will be taking some points made by bloggers and putting them directly to the minister.

The outlandish Revenue website is excellent, we highly recommend you go and have a look. It has a number of great sections, including one where you can vote to choose ‘The Billboard of Justice‘.We voted for Number 1, which did you think was the best?

The project aims are very effective, livening up a traditionally boring subject, such as tax, and re-telling it in an outlandish way so that people everywhere will want to find out about it and help make the powers that be to take action for tax justice. The more people we get talking about tax justice the more we can show the UK – and world’s – governments how seriously people now consider this as an important issue.

November has been a busy month, the deadline has now passed for paper based tax returns and we have created a number of great tax articles for you to view. Below is a list of some of the best over the month, I hope you enjoy:

• Tax returns for property owners
• How students can reclaim tax
• Tax refund requirements
  
• How to claim a tax rebate
• Inland Revenue tax returns for property landlords
  
• Student tax exemptions