Reply to: Self Assessment required for my wife?

[ormenlange]

SA for Shareholder Spouse

Surely if your wife is a shareholder in your limited company you have to account for the dividend taken out of the company and explain what has happened to her share. If she is a 50% shareholder then the dividend must go 50% to her and that gives her income which normally needs to be declared somehwere.

[monkeyBoy32]

Hi - just reading this thread. I've also just found out that my wife needed to complete a SA.

Before you all kill me saying I should have known, it was only yesterday that my accountant told me she would need to complete one and I have, until now, followed everything my accountant has said and haven't been made aware of the need for my wife to complete a SA.

So - feeling pretty sick right now - as we will need to complete SA for my wife for the past 3 years where the dividend would have taken her over the threshold.

Will be contacting HMRC soon as.. Expecting a hefty bill. Already looking at options.. selling house etc..

Great that my account tells me only now.. and a few days before Christmas.

Sure - you're all going to tell me I've been stupid but honestly didn't know any different.

I expect there;s going to be fines as well...

[eek]

I guess this is what the tag cloud was supposed to be used for...

Guinea Pigs

[mudskipper]

I guess this is what the tag cloud was supposed to be used for...

[Rabotnik]

Are you using the method as show here? The site one is pap.

http://forums.contractoruk.com/welco...uk-forums.html

Oh cheers, didn't know you could search sub forums like that. I was using the standard search.

[northernladuk]

Coincidentally, I just logged in to post this same thread. I searched for "self assessment" and "assessment" in the forums and there were no matches for some reason.

Are you using the method as show here? The site one is pap.

http://forums.contractoruk.com/welco...uk-forums.html

[Rabotnik]

Coincidentally, I just logged in to post this same thread. I searched for "self assessment" and "assessment" in the forums and there were no matches for some reason. I've never seen anyone mention it before here. Basically the rule is if your wife makes > 10K from investments (so from dividends) then she has to do a return. In the lower bracket you don't pay any tax since the tax in the lower band equals the tax credit from the dividends. In the higher brackets you have to pay tax (all on the HMRC website).

I thought it made the return kind of pointless if your wife is in the lower bracket, and I don't know how they would ever realise she wasn't paying tax on the dividends, but they must have ways and means! I've been nagging my wife to do it for about a week, and she has finally printed the form today, so we will fill it out tonight.

[northernladuk]

Actually, not all information on the HMRC site is legally correct.

Maybe so but you won't find this out by not reading it at all.

[xoggoth]

Is it so hard to a little bit of research?

Actually, not all information on the HMRC site is legally correct.

[northernladuk]

Wow. Long thread for what appears to be one of HMRC's more simpler rules.

[psychocandy]

Phoned HMRC today for the Mrs. She wasn't down for a tax return for year ending april 2012.

Explained to them that she'd been self-employed and she was also getting dividends so they said, ok we'll send a tax return request but you've got 3 months from date of receipt not jan 31st. Result - no rush now.

They did advise to phone self -employment HMRC dept and they confirmed she was still registered self-employed. Think HMRC cocked up on this one to be honest.

But like everyone else, I wonder if they'd be so forgiving if you phoned them of jan 25th and expect a 3 month extension. In my case, I didnt tell them about mrs dividends but shes been registered self-employed since 2008 so no idea why the suddenly decided this year not to bother.

[psychocandy]

Hi,

Exactly. HMRC always put the onus on the tax payer. If I remember the letter that you are referring to correctly as well. It does say on there, that should the cirucmstances change... (or words to that effect) then a return is due.

My advice is to submit one before 31st Jan deadline. just because you already know the UTR.

Yeh. I was going to....

[jumbojake]

another update .... apparently I didn't listen to my wife (didn't think that was part of the marriage contract) ... apparently she will get a deferral for submitting the return ... 3months + 1 week for some reason.

If it is at all possible, I will attempt to complete before the 31st Jan ... just in case.

also, 'YES', she could register over the phone... although the UTR is sent in the post, told to expect it in January.

[Greg@CapitalCity]

Where they able to register her for self assessment over the phone. The only way I can see to do it at the moment is via this form
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/forms/sa1.pdf

Thats interesting. They used to have the phone number on the SA1 form saying "If you need to complete a tax return, first you must register for
Self Assessment to get a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR). The easiest way to do this is to phone the Self Assessment Helpline on 0845 900 0444."

Try the phone number anyway - it beats having to rely on the post.

[davetza]

Just to update... I called the HMRC, they told me to "s*d off", as I can't talk to them about my spouses circumstance (fair enough) ... my wife called and they said she would need to (based on 'investment income')

They said here UTR would arrive in January .... didn't mention any deferred date..... so that doesn't leave much time to register for on-line and get the return made.


As for the HMRC on-line return .. I did mine last year and (in my total ignorance of all thing financial), it seemed straightforward... painful bit was finding all of the relevant records.

Where they able to register her for self assessment over the phone. The only way I can see to do it at the moment is via this form

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/forms/sa1.pdf