It’s coming up to that time of year again… no, not Christmas, but the other time of year that all self-employed people start freaking out about… tax return time! 

OK, not everyone freaks out as some of us do our tax returns as soon as we can, like in April as soon as the new tax year starts! 

I’ve always wondered why people put it off until the very last minute...?  I love to get mine out of the way as soon as possible.  If you are prepared then you can do this too and stop all the panicking in January!

The only thing I do freak out about is remembering to pay my bill.  I have several alarms at the ready near the end of January.  I always have the money saved ready to pay it and simply need to log in to my HMRC self-assessment online account to make my payment. 

The first year I paid self-employment tax I did actually pay it right away, as soon as I completed my tax return.  But the payment just sat there in my tax account doing nothing.  They don't actually clear the tax balance due until it reaches the tax payment deadline. So since then I thought it better to earn interest on my tax savings until the actual due date!