Financial Milestones in 2017: Key Dates for Your Diary

Planning for the new year is essential for businesses and self-employed people. 'How to plan my financial year' is something that many people start thinking about now, and that's a very good idea if you want to keep on top of all the important deadlines.

There are lots of financial dates to keep in mind, so here are some of the most important to note down in your calendar.

January 31st

This is the Self-Assessment submission due date. If you're wondering 'when do I need to file my tax return?', this is the date you need to note down.

This is the online submission deadline for the last tax year that ended on April 5th 2016. If you are late in submitting your return, you will usually have to pay a penalty. However, if you have a reasonable excuse, you may be able to appeal (see here for more details).

Of course, it's much better to prevent this from happening in the first place, so we would highly recommend submitting your return as early as possible to get it out of the way.

We can help you with your tax returns. We will make sure there are no mistakes, we might be able to help you to make savings on expenses that you were unaware of, and we'll get it back in good time so you won't have to worry about deadlines.

April 5th

This is the last day of the tax year, although you probably knew that already. But what do you have to do?

If you work in a company, this is the time to check the tax codes of your employees and make sure they are correct for payroll. You should also make sure you are using the right taxable pay tables.

April 19th

The Full Payment Submission (FPS) should be made either on or before the last payday of the tax year for your employees (so before April 5th).

However, if you have made a mistake, April 19th is the deadline for when the final FPS needs to be made to HMRC for the last tax year.

March 8th

This is the date of the Spring Budget and Finance Bill, which was confirmed recently. This year is special because this is going to be the last Spring Budget, as explained at Gov.uk.

While there used to be a Budget in the spring and an Autumn Statement later in the year, the main annual Budget will now move to Autumn so that there is just one fiscal event each year.

The changes were announced in the 2016 Autumn Statement. According to Gov.uk, the UK is the ‘only major advanced economy’ that makes two major changes to the tax system each year, so this is a welcome change.

Autumn 2017 Budget

When is the Budget later in the year? No date has been announced at the time of writing for the new Autumn Budget, so keep an eye out for it in the news.

19th and 22nd of Every Month

There are also regular monthly deadlines to be aware of. If you have outstanding PAYE and Class 1 NIC payments from the tax year that just ended, April 22nd is the deadline for this if you are paying using an electronic payment method.

If you are not using an electronic payment method, you must make the payments by 19th by post. These deadlines are the same every month.

Make a Note of These Dates

These are some of the most important financial dates for your diary in 2017, so make a note of them and make sure you don't miss any important deadlines.

And, of course, if we can help you with any of your accounting or bookkeeping this year, we'd be happy to hear from you.