Guidance for tax agents and advisers to help manage the 31 January 2014 Self-Assessment deadline has been published on the HMRC website. The final online filing deadline for 2012-13 self-assessment tax returns is 31 January 2014 which is also the final payment date for any outstanding income tax and national insurance for that tax year. The first payment on account for 2013-14 also falls due for payment on the same date.

Readers are reminded that there was an earlier online filing deadline of 30 December 2013 if a taxpayer wanted HMRC to collect any tax owed (less than £3,000 only) through the individual’s tax code.

64-8 turnaround times are also important at this time of year and HMRC have issued an update on Central Agent Authorisation Team turnaround times.

If an agent needs an agent authorisation for Self-Assessment to be effective before 31 January 2014, HMRC recommended that online applications for agent authorisation were submitted by Wednesday 15 January 2014, postal forms should have been posted by Monday 23 December 2013 at the latest. Applications for Self-Assessment registration should have been posted by Friday 20 December.

HMRC have also published the estimated turnaround times that HMRC aims to achieve based on current work plans and transaction volume forecasts. It should be stressed that this is not an estimate of how long it takes HMRC to process an application. Instead, HMRC is providing an estimate of the ‘end to end’ turnaround time - that is, how long that should be allowed after posting the form to HMRC for the authorisation/application to become effective, or for the agent to receive any relevant outputs.

HMRC is also urging anyone who needs to register for Self-Assessment and file a 2012-13 return to register for its online services as soon as possible. The final step in registration involves HMRC sending an activation code in the post which can take 7 working days to complete. It’s therefore important not to leave this to the last minute.