Tax doesn't have to be taxing....

Particularly if your personal tax calculation means that you aren't going to owe anything. It's been a tough year, with very little in the way of income, but hey, these things happen. Now don't get me wrong, it's been a tremendously busy year, and a year of solid achievement. If I had been in a position to get all of my invoices paid, I'd have done really well, but in the current economic climate, getting paid is rather a different matter to getting work. Three clients going bust hasn't helped but it is a learning process and one that is ongoing. Anyway, enough of that. The reason for this post is to remind all of my UK readers that the deadline for filing your tax return for the year 2010-2011 is 31^st January so not long to go now. Failing to get it in on time will result in a £100 fine, and realistically, even if you haven't started the process there is no reason why you can't still get it done. It isn't complex or difficult, it can be done online without difficulty and the whole process can be managed in a couple of days, a weekend, and you have a couple of those left before the deadline.

There is no getting around the need to file your tax return if you are responsible for your own tax so get organised, get your information on income and expenditure together and you can get the wjoe thing done pretty quickly an easily. You can always get help from a friendly local accountant for not very much money but to be honest it is pretty easy to do it yourself. One thing I will say is that if you do get stuck, the staff on the phonelines for HMRC are extremely helpful and make the process of getting the form done remarkably easy even if there are complicating issues. It is actually quite pleasant to find such a well staffed and efficient call centre who don't make you feel stupid when you cock something up.

There are two certainties in life, death and taxes, but that doesn't mean that tax has to be something to be frightened of or worried about. It is just one of those things that has to be done if we want to live in a society that has healthcare for all, free education up to eighteen years, roads, street lights and all those other bits and pieces that make life bearable. And yes, I know that our incme tax doesn't pay directly for those things – that in fact our income tax goes to make interest payments on Government debt, but lets face it, without income tax we would have to pay up in some other way, and this is probably the fairest method – the more you earn the more you pay....unless you are a large corporation of course......but thats another story.......