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Have You Filed Your Own Tax Return? Fisher's Law

22nd Jan 2014
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It is that time of year. Most readers of this column will probably currently be obsessed by their clients' inability to deliver tax return information as deadlines loom.

In the time honoured tradition of physicians failing to heal themselves, it is also likely that the vast majority of those taking a few minutes respite by reading this column will be leaving their own tax returns until the last minute.

Life is difficult but it will only seem worse if, having burned the midnight oil on behalf of ungrateful clients for weeks on end, the finishing line is finally in sight but blocked by the terrifying prospect of getting together all those statements, receipts and invoices that build into your own tax return.

It may be little too late for New Year's resolutions and, ensuring that the metaphors are suitably mixed, leopards rarely change their spots but here goes.

There have already been over nine months since HMRC issued tax return notices. Even if some of the underlying paperwork took a month or two to come in, in all probability there is no reason why every reader's tax return could not have been filed, or at the very least virtually completed, by the end of the summer holidays.

However, people are strange. It would have taken exactly the same length of time to do my tax return during the relatively quiet month of August either just before just after that well-earned holiday.

In fact, it was completed and filed on line last Sunday. Had it been any later, the pressure would have built and what might originally have seemed to be a simple task would have taken on unimaginable proportions.

There is little doubt that the best time for all of us to complete our tax returns is as soon as the last piece of data becomes available. Everything is fresh in our minds and we are not up against the January deadline.

Failing that, resolving to get it done by the end of October/November/December would make perfect sense.

In reality, human nature is such that it is not stretching the truth too much to suggest that everyone leaves everything to the last minute given the opportunity. This is undoubtedly someone's law and unless it has already been claimed, it might be a real feather in the collective cap of the accounting profession if it became Fisher's Law to join Murphy and Parkinson.

For those of you who are fighting your clients in a desperate attempt to protect them from losing the odd hundred pounds, while wrestling with your own sanity and health, all that is left to do at this stage is to say good luck and please, please, please don't come moaning to me when you try lodging your return online at 11.59 on 31 January just at the moment when your computer crashes (or failing that misfortune HMRC’s does).

Roll on February.

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Replies (7)

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By User deleted
22nd Jan 2014 10:53

Mine is always the last ...

... to be filed, it has been ready a while but it has become almost a last rites ceremony for the old tax year, press file, turn the lights off, alarm on, lock the door and go home - ready for the pile of December VAT returns I need to crack on with in the morning.

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By PK Group
22nd Jan 2014 11:35

The January Rush

January has been an extremely busy month for us as always!

One thing we've noticed this year however, is the amount of new clients that are already signing up for us to do NEXT year's tax returns for them. The earlier the better we say!

Hope everybody is on top of their tax returns.

PK Group

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By User deleted
22nd Jan 2014 14:36

Not me

I always get mine done as soon as possible after April 5th. But then that's my attitude to life. If I'm destined to die on a specific date I'll probably try and fit it in a few days earlier if I've nothing else to do :)

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By slipknot08
23rd Jan 2014 09:25

For the 1st time...

... EVER, I managed to get my own return filed by the end of July this year. The sheer sense of relief is marvellous (& highly recommended to any clients I may come into contact with!).

Having said that, this isn't gloating (honest): my usual track record involves frantically trying to press the right buttons before the clock ticks round to 23:59 31/1 (and yes, Philip, the computer always does make sure to add to the suspense!!), and while I'll try to recapture this joyous feeling in future, I'm pretty sure I'll end up doing the 23:59 thing again at some point.

Talking of which, I actually did my ITR so long ago that before I started typing this reply, I had to log-in to HMRC's SA pages and check because I thought I'd just lulled myself into a false sense of security and only dreamed I'd done it...

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By gbuckell
23rd Jan 2014 10:38

Why file early?

Well obviously for peace of mind! I have not done mine yet but I actually have a reasonably good excuse. I like to carry back gift aid contributions paid during the year so leaving it to the last minute allows the maximum amount to be carried back (I pay significant monthly contributions to my church via gift aid so I am not talking about very trivial sums). I have never understood why this rule exists. It seems like a throwback to pre SA days. Probably the loss of tax is so small nationally that no one can be bothered to repeal it!

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Glenn Martin
By Glenn Martin
23rd Jan 2014 16:43

I operate the same as OGA

and file my return last to signify the end of the madness, I push the button to file, then do a little dance, maybe make a little love and generally just get down tonight.

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By MalcolmLoftus
27th Jan 2014 13:50

Isn't this a variation of one of Murphy's commerce laws - if wasn;t for the last minute nothing would get done?

http://www.murphys-laws.com/murphy/murphy-commerce.html

 

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