Don’t miss the deadline...
24th January 2012

Almost a quarter (24%) of British tradesmen have missed an income tax deadline, according to research findings by Wickes.

With just a week to go until the online income tax return deadline, Wickes has updated its online trade business advisory site – www.wickestradebuilder.co.uk – with new information to help tradesmen complete their forms correctly and return them to HMRC in time.
 
The high number of tradesmen who admit to having missed an income tax return deadline brings to light the worrying proportion who don’t know how to correctly fill in their self-assessment forms – or do not realise the importance of doing so.
 
Wickes board director, Rob Murray, said: “The repercussions of missing the income tax deadline can have a significant financial impact for tradesmen who work for themselves or own their own companies, as they run the risk of being fined. In this tough economic climate, it’s more important than ever that those who work in this vital industry are given the help and guidance they need to ensure this doesn’t happen to them.
 
“Wickes Trade Builder has been created to provide self-employed tradesmen with essential information on business topics such as tax and VAT in order to help them avoid making mistakes of this kind.”
 
The highest proportion of tradesmen who admitted to missing an income tax deadline are based in London, with nearly a third (32%) having been penalised for getting their self-assessment forms in late.
 
The North East of England saw the second highest number (27%) of tradesmen failing to meet the deadline whilst the lowest figures came from the Midlands and Wales, with just 18% and 20% respectively claiming to have made this mistake. 21% of tradesmen in both North and South West England have also been late in returning their forms, and almost a quarter (24%) of Scots have returned their forms after the deadline.
 
Of those respondents who said they’d missed a deadline for their income tax forms, 32% said it was because they had forgotten the date, more than one in 10 (11%) said they didn’t know how to complete one, and 36% said they had been simply ‘too busy’. In addition, 35% of tradesmen who have never submitted an income tax return online didn’t know that you could do so.
 
Wickes Trade Builder is an online resource designed in conjunction with Business Link specifically to help tradesmen maintain and protect their businesses. The site is easy to access and simple to use, meaning that tradesmen who are short of time can access the business information they need quickly and efficiently.
 
www.wickestradebuilder.co.uk