According to a recent newspaper report more than 50 per cent of the nation’s stressed out self-employed, leave getting their tax self-assessment form into the HMRC to the very last minute.
So, looking ahead to late January 2021 you may notice the stress levels of some people rocketing as the deadline to hand in their returns looms.
An accountant friend of ours said something to me that really struck a chord.
It’s along the lines of ‘most people forget the four P’s when it comes to their tax returns – Plan, Prepare, Present and Professional.’
To cut his long story short he says if people planned their tax returns and prepared them in decent order to present to an accounting professional (I’m guessing he means him) they could save themselves time, a lot of stress and in many cases money.
His Four P idea could certainly be applied to selling, or even renting out a property.
Plan when to put it on the market – don’t just wake up one morning and think ‘I’ll whack it up for sale and see what happens.’ We can help you with this decision.
Prepare all your paperwork in advance, such as any guarantees, leasehold agreements, warranties and anything that will make the legal side of any transactions that much smoother and less stressful.
Present your property in its best light. We’ve several articles about how to do this but quick and classic tips are: Declutter as much as possible, fix things that are broken like door handles etc, mow your lawn and / or clean your front door. We are experts in presenting properties so please don’t hesitate to contact us for help and advice.
Professional estate agents will prove valuable if you use them. We pride ourselves on getting clients the best possible price in the shortest amount of time and we negotiate firmly but fairly to ensure our clients get the price they want.
This Four P approach can bring about the same results as my number crunching buddy’s – saving homeowners time, minimising their stress and helping them end up with more money in their pocket.
Which you can’t always say when dealing with the lovely people at the HMRC offices.
Thanks for reading.
Martin & Co
