As Christmas draws closer, many contractors will be finalising their plans for the festive season.

You know who is in charge of wrapping presents, what time you’re going to travel to the in-laws and who’s cooking the turkey. But you shouldn’t forget about the tax return deadline in amongst all the merriment.

After all, you only have until 31 January to complete and pay your Self-Assessment.

Christmas is a popular time for Self-Assessment filing.

Last year, HMRC announced that more than 16,000 people submitted their tax return online between 24 and 26 December.

This included more than 2,500 submissions on Christmas Day and more than 7,600 on the Boxing Day bank holiday.

Many people also filed over New Year, with more than 17,000 people completing their Self-Assessment on the first day of 2018.

Here are our top tips for a stress-free Self-Assessment.

Leave plenty of time

Not only is leaving it to the last minute stressful, it also means you’re more likely to miss out something important.

Get help from an accountant

You might have only submitted half a dozen Self-Assessments, but an accountant has overseen thousands. They know exactly what they’re looking for and might be able to save you money by claiming expenses that you hadn’t considered.

Collect all your information

Information is the key to a painless tax return. Collate information on all the money you’ve earned, from any source, as well as all the receipts and other expenses that you’ve collected in the course of running your business.

Make things easier for next year

If the Self-Assessment process has been particularly rotten this year, you can make things easier for yourself next time by getting prepared. Speak to one of our accountants about how you can minimise your stress-levels in 2019.

For more help with your Self-Assessment, speak to one of our Umbrella.co.uk accountants today. Call: 0800 121 6513.