Benefit from being betimes

Filing your tax return for 2017-18 may not be due until the 31 January 2019, but the sooner you get this done, the better, advises Susan Hutter. Follow her guidelines for filing a tax return ahead of the January deadline.

Knowledge is king

Filing a tax return may not be top of your to-do list, but the sooner you get going, the sooner you or your accountant can calculate the tax bill. If you don’t have all the funds to hand, then it means you can budget so you can pay the tax bill on time.

Leaving it to the last minute creates unnecessary stress

I’ve known some of the most fantastic medics – acclaimed in their profession – leave their tax bill to the last minute and their stress levels hiked in the final week of January. Not a healthy way to be in the beginning of a new year.

Preparing early will take a big weight off and you will wonder why you didn’t do it even earlier.