Umesh Modi looks at what pharmacists need to consider whenfilling out their tax returns for the year.

If you have already filed your 2009 tax re-turn, well done, you are ahead of the game!But if not, now is the time to take action.

The deadline for submission of paperreturns has already passed, on October 31, butfor a growing number of people, and almostall accountancy practices, filing returns onlinehas become the norm, so the deadline for the2009 tax return is January 31 2010.

Filing your return

If you are filing your return yourself, the firststep is to register at www.hmrc.gov.uk for onlineservices. You will then receive, by post, confir-mation of your User ID and an activation PINneeded to get started. Once you have activatedyour account you will be able to prepare andsubmit your return online.

Whether you are filing your return yourselfor collating information for your accountant,the checklist below lists some of the morecommon information that you or your ac-countant will need to complete your 2009 return,which covers the tax year ended April 5 2009.

Business income:

If you are a sole trader or in a partnership youwill need the accounts which ended during thetax year 2008/09, for instance accounts for theyear ended 31 December 2008 or for the yearMarch 31 2009.

If your business started recently or ceasedduring the tax year the position will be a littlemore complex and your accountant will be ableto advise you further.

If you trade through a limited companythen you will need your P60 and P11D for 2008/09, showing your earnings and any benefits/expenses paid for by the company. Companydividends paid in the year ended April 5 2009will also be included.

Unearned income:

Unearned income received between April 62008 and April 5 2009 will be shown on yourreturn, whether from UK or overseas sourc-es – e.g. bank/building society interest, div-idends on shares and unit trusts, rental income(and associated expenses) and pension income,so you will need statements, tax certificatesand dividend vouchers. Where an investmentis held jointly, your share of the income isshown.

If you are non-UK domiciled then 2008/09 marks the first year of the new regime -you chose whether to declare and pay UK tax on your worldwide in-come or whether to be taxedon the remittance basis (i.e.only on that overseas incomewhich you have brought tothe UK) and to pay the£30,000 tax charge. This is acomplex area and your ac-countant will be able to pro-vide more details.

Capital gains:

Details of the sale of capital as-sets – e.g. property, investments– during the tax year will beneeded for your return: the costand sale proceeds, and anyassociated expenses.

The sale of your home willgenerally be exempt from cap-ital gains tax as long as the prop-erty has been used as your mainresidence, and for no otherpurpose, throughout the timeyou owned it, so any gain (orloss) will not be included onyour return.

Other matters:

Tax relief is given for charitable payments undergift aid made in the tax year, so be sure to in-clude these on your return; likewise pensioncontributions paid by you or investments qual-ifying under the Enterprise Investment Schemewill reduce your tax liability.

Paying your tax

As well as being the deadline for the submis-sion of your 2009 return, January 31 2010 isalso the deadline for payment of your tax li-ability for 2008/09 – if you have already madepayments on account towards the year, youmay have to pay a balancing payment. Addi-tionally, if you are required to make paymentson account towards your 2009/2010 liability,the first of these will also be due on 31 Janu-ary 2010.

Interest and penalties

If your return is submitted after January31 2010, you will be charged a £100 penalty;interest will also be charged from February 1on any unpaid tax. If any part of your balancingpayment remains unpaid as at February 28 2010,a surcharge of 5 per cent will be added to yourliability.

HMRC enquiries

Submitting your return and paying your taxis not necessarily the end of the story. If yousubmit your return before the deadline, HMRChave 12 months from the date after your re-turn was submitted to raise an enquiry into it.However, if your return is submitted late,HMRC’s period for raising an enquiry is extend-ed. An enquiry may be a “full” enquiry, into thewhole return or an “aspect” enquiry, into oneor more areas of the return.

So, if your one of the many who has notyet submitted your return, do it now!

Krystyna Knight, of Silver Levene provided re-search for this article.