markm
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Post by markm on Oct 22, 2017 15:22:11 GMT
Hi All I started investing in P2P around May 2016 and realise I now need to get my head around Tax returns! I read this '4th way' guide which suggested that for those in my situation of never having completed a self assessment tax return the process might be as simple as i) Print off the annual tax statements you get from the P2P lending companies. ii) Post them to your tax office with a brief letter stating you have untaxed income from peer-to-peer lending and that the evidence of the income is enclosed. iii) Ask Revenue & Customs to adjust your personal allowance through your tax code. Has anyone here taken that route and was it as straightforward as suggested? Any advice welcome.... Thanks |
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dave
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Post by dave on Oct 22, 2017 15:59:00 GMT
Hi All I started investing in P2P around May 2016 and realise I now need to get my head around Tax returns! I read this '4th way' guide which suggested that for those in my situation of never having completed a self assessment tax return the process might be as simple as i) Print off the annual tax statements you get from the P2P lending companies. ii) Post them to your tax office with a brief letter stating you have untaxed income from peer-to-peer lending and that the evidence of the income is enclosed. iii) Ask Revenue & Customs to adjust your personal allowance through your tax code. Has anyone here taken that route and was it as straightforward as suggested? Any advice welcome.... Thanks yes  my coversheet is the one from Zopa, modified with a mini-spreadsheet to make sure the numbers for all the p2p sources add up worked ok so far Dave
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ilmoro
Member of DD Central
'Wondering which of the bu***rs to blame, and watching for pigs on the wing.' - Pink Floyd
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Post by ilmoro on Oct 22, 2017 22:37:54 GMT
Yes for the latest 7 years, and for the last couple havent even bothered sending the staements just a total using the Zopa cover letter (about the only use I make of Zopa)
This year I have to do SA as my P2P interest is more than £2.5k but if your'e earning less than that then the above is fine and the response is usually pretty quick.
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Post by elephantrosie on Oct 22, 2017 23:40:45 GMT
what do you guys mean only Zopa earnings? so if i have p2p earnings from other platforms, do i need not inform HMRC?
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duck
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Post by duck on Oct 23, 2017 2:21:36 GMT
what do you guys mean only Zopa earnings? so if i have p2p earnings from other platforms, do i need not inform HMRC? No, you have a duty to report your untaxed income to HMRC so it doesn't matter which platform the income comes from you should report it. What I don't think has sunk in for a lot of people is that now building societies and similar institutions no longer deduct tax at source this requirement potentially covers a much larger % of the population than just those that use P2P. markm The platforms of course report your income so if you agree with their figures (have to assume the submitted figures correspond with downloadable tax statements) you should be able to get away with submitting the statements and a covering letter. This approach has served many well over the years. But (isn't there always one!) For the last 2 years you have been able to claim irrecoverable losses against tax. Now I have no idea from your post which platforms you invest through so can't guess if you have any loans in this position. The claiming of these losses (shown on some platforms tax statements) is down to you as a tax payer, you can choose to / not claim these losses against tax. I can imagine that if you start claiming any relief available HMRC will inform you that you will have to register for SA. I note the deadline for submitting paper tax returns is fast approaching so if I was in your position I would fire off the letter asap (enclosing the relevant statements) and wait for the response from HMRC ...... obviously keep copies of everything and personally I would get proof of posting from the Post Office when you send the letter just to prove that you took action in a timely manner.
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Post by elephantrosie on Oct 23, 2017 13:02:40 GMT
when is the dateline? is this for the 2015/ 2016 earnings?
when can i see details on all these?
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Post by elephantrosie on Oct 23, 2017 13:03:34 GMT
sorry i mean 2016/ 2017 (up to april)?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2017 13:07:48 GMT
Well a wake up call to me, I didn't realise there were people still using paper for this activity. Electronic SA has been running for a good few years now.  www.gov.uk/self-assessment-tax-returns/deadlines for paper it is the end of this month, for electronic end of Jan. |
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duck
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Post by duck on Oct 23, 2017 13:08:41 GMT
when is the dateline? is this for the 2015/ 2016 earnings? when can i see details on all these? It was connected the link I posted in my previous post ..... but here we go again
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markm
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Post by markm on Oct 24, 2017 17:00:07 GMT
Thanks all and duck in particular for the helpful advice. Just about time to get things sorted I hope! I also found at the p2pblog useful and contained a link to the Zopa template letter. Cheers Mark |
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Post by GSV3MIaC on Oct 24, 2017 17:28:44 GMT
Well a wake up call to me, I didn't realise there were people still using paper for this activity. Electronic SA has been running for a good few years now. www.gov.uk/self-assessment-tax-returns/deadlines for paper it is the end of this month, for electronic end of Jan. Yes, and my partner used it for a good few years .. and then all of a sudden she can't login without a passport or driving license (or experian checks, which won't fly with Co-op/Nationwide bank users). Back to paper? .. keep a few more people employed I guess.
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Post by elephantrosie on Oct 24, 2017 18:12:12 GMT
thanks guy. this is very helpful. am i right that the dateline is for april 2016- march 2017?
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Post by dan1 on Oct 24, 2017 18:18:56 GMT
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markm
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Post by markm on Oct 24, 2017 19:28:52 GMT
Yes for the latest 7 years, and for the last couple havent even bothered sending the staements just a total using the Zopa cover letter (about the only use I make of Zopa) This year I have to do SA as my P2P interest is more than £2.5k but if your'e earning less than that then the above is fine and the response is usually pretty quick. From HMRC website it states that you have to complete an SA if "you got £2,500 or more in untaxed income, for example from tips or renting out a property..." but that a higher limit for SA applies for "income from savings or investments" which is "10,000 or more before tax" So it looks like I could submit a paper return if I'm between those two from p2p investments. I guess I can just try this anyway and see what happens and complete an SA later if requested to do so... Do you need to declare any referral fee and/or cashback you've received separately or are these usually declared on the platform tax statement? Thanks Mark
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ilmoro
Member of DD Central
'Wondering which of the bu***rs to blame, and watching for pigs on the wing.' - Pink Floyd
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Post by ilmoro on Oct 24, 2017 22:03:58 GMT
Yes for the latest 7 years, and for the last couple havent even bothered sending the staements just a total using the Zopa cover letter (about the only use I make of Zopa) This year I have to do SA as my P2P interest is more than £2.5k but if your'e earning less than that then the above is fine and the response is usually pretty quick. From HMRC website it states that you have to complete an SA if "you got £2,500 or more in untaxed income, for example from tips or renting out a property..." but that a higher limit for SA applies for "income from savings or investments" which is "10,000 or more before tax" So it looks like I could submit a paper return if I'm between those two from p2p investments. I guess I can just try this anyway and see what happens and complete an SA later if requested to do so... Do you need to declare any referral fee and/or cashback you've received separately or are these usually declared on the platform tax statement? Thanks Mark My need to do SA was specific advice from HMRC. The classification of P2P interest isnt clear as on the SA it is entered as other income not bank interest. I would just send the letter and they will let you know if you need to do SA. The platform statment should tell you what you need to declare... cashback is believed to be non-taxable but AC dont agree, referral fees are probably taxable ... Zopa think so, as do Nationwide. If youre not sure, you should get advice as my comments are not advice and Im not a tax professional
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