Things You Should Be Doing Now It’s A New Tax Year

I’m a little bit late but happy new tax year to you all! The 6th of April saw a brand new tax year begin. And it’s an important time of the year whether you’re employed or self-employed.

If you’re not having to submit your own taxes, a new tax year probably isn’t that exciting for you. But here are some things you should be doing.

A new tax year new means new ISA limits

Each financial year the ISA limits re-set which means your £20,000 a year tax-free saving resets and you’re allowed to open up a new ISA. I’m a massive fan of ISA’s as they offer some of the best returns for your money at the moment where savings accounts offer virtually no interest.

Open a new ISA

There’s no point opening up another cash ISA for the sake of it. But if you don’t have a lifetime ISA now is the time to open one. Or if you don’t have a Stocks & Shares ISA again now is the time to open one. You can shop around for the best rates, but also check out cashback services like Quidco as you may get cashback for opening one. I managed to get £250 cashback when I opened my Stocks & Shares ISA and paid in just £75 a month.

Max out your Lifetime ISA

If you have a lifetime ISA then think about maxing out the £4,000 a year limit. This 4K is included within your 20K a year ISA limit. But the government bonus’ is too good to miss out on if you’re saving for your first home or retirement.

It’s a new tax year so if you’re self-employed think about submitting your taxes

Submitting your taxes is no fun when you’re self-employed. But if you’ve been keeping on top of everything throughout the year it shouldn’t be a big deal. But the earlier you get it submitted the better. If you owe tax you’ll have longer to pay it off. Plus it’s one less thing you need to think and stress about. Having until the end of January 2022 may feel like an awfully long time but time flies.

When you have a spare few hours get all your admin in order and tick them off your list. I have both mine and Luke’s ready and raring to go. I’m just waiting for my P60 from my full-time job before I can submit mine. And I’m waiting on some paperwork to show the tax Luke has already paid before I can submit his.

Set yourself up for success next year

If you didn’t keep track of things over the past financial year, you can set yourself up for success for the new tax year by getting organised. I did a whole post on how to make filing your taxes easier but organisation is the main point. Make a note every time you get paid with any information you may need such as dates, what the payment was for, how it was paid etc. Then set aside a little time each month to go through your expenses. A little bit of time each month will make this time next year go even smoother.

If you’ve changed jobs or been furloughed check you’ve paid the right amount of tax

As it’s a new tax year you want to make sure that you didn’t overpay your tax last year during any paid employment you may have had. If you were in and out of furlough or picked up additional work while furloughed. Or even if you changed your main job throughout the pandemic you may find you’ve overpaid your tax.

HMRC will send you a P800 sometime after the tax year ends if you’ve not paid the correct amount of tax. But in the meantime, you can check on the government website if you think you’ve paid too much tax through a job, pension or any other payment.

It’s a new tax year so if you’ve worked from home claim tax relief

As it’s a new tax year if you’ve had to work from home for at least a day of the year you can claim tax relief. This only counts if you have to work from home and not if you simply choose to. The tax relief is aimed to help cover gas, electricity, water, and internet/ phone usage that you wouldn’t usually use if you were in an office.

You may have claimed this for the last tax year, but you need to put in a separate claim if you’ve worked from home for this year. You can either claim £6 a week or if you’ve incurred more expenses due to working from home you can claim for the exact amount of costs you’ve incurred but you’ll need contracts or receipts.

Have you done any of these things for the new tax year?