It's two weeks until this year'stax return deadline for those who need to doself-assessment.
If you've been putting it off for months you might be feeling a little daunted by crumpled piles of receipts and baffling pages of accounts.
All is not lost - 14 days should be enoughtime to do your tax return, but it's best to get startedsooner, rather than later.
In previous years a last-minute rush has jammed HM Revenue and Customs' phone lines, leaving confused taxpayers unable toask for advice.
Last year HSBC suffered adenial of service attack just two days before the deadline, leaving their customers unable to access their online banking on the last working day before the January 31 cut-off date.
This year the deadline falls at midnight on Tuesday January 31 - but the website and phone lines are likely to be very busy on Monday 30, so it's worth getting it done before the weekend.
If you miss the deadline, you'll receive an automatic penalty of £100, which will grow by£10 a day after three months, up to a maximum of £900.
To avoid this, here are some tips from the professionals to help you sort out your return at the last minute.
Get your allowances right
The Government has done quite a lot of tinkering with tax allowances - make sure you claim the ones you're due and leave out the ones you are not.
It's also confusing because the changes made in April last year - such as the introduction of a higher personal allowance and a new dividend allowance - will not apply for this tax return, which is for income during the tax year from April 2015 to April 2016.
Buy-to-let landlords should claim a 10pc wear-and-tear allowance - this is the last year you'll be able to do so before it's scrapped in April.This year you can also deduct costs such asletting agent fees, mortgage interestand ground rent.
Each individualhasa capital gains tax allowance of £11,000 anda personal allowance (for income) of £10,600 for the 2015/16 tax year.
James Hender, of accountancy firm Saffery Champness, points out that "micro" businesses might be looking to claim a new relief, which allows for £1,000 of tax-free income. It doesn't kick in until April - so don't put it on your 2015/16 tax form.
If you're a higher-rate taxpayerdon't forget to claim higher-rate tax relief on your pension contributions. Quote the gross figure, which is the full amount after your pension provider has claimed basic-rate relief, not the net one, which is the amount you contributed yourself.
Don't leave out any income
Any income that has not been taxed already needs to be declared.
This includes interestfrom savings and dividends from investments. The personal savings allowance and dividend allowance were bothintroduced in April 2016, so do not apply for this tax return.
State pension also needs to go on your tax return. Even though it's paid gross, it's still taxable.You also need todeclare child benefit payments if your income is more than £50,000.
Get your NICs right
The National Insurance system for self-employed people is two-tier.
If your annual profits are less than£8,060, you pay Class 2 NI, of £2.80 a week. If they're more than this, you pay Class 4 NI.
This is 9pc of your taxable self-employed profits up to£43,000, and 2pc above this level. If you have two jobs, make sure you don't overpay Class 1 NI.
Stefanie Stapleton, personal tax manager at Blick Rothenberg, said: "Individuals with two employments earning over approximately£42,000may overpay Class 1 and HMRC can overlook notifying you of NIC overpayments."
Little-known tax-savingtips
If you are a member of a professional body that is required for your employment, you can include the cost of the subscription as adeduction.
If you use your car for business trips and your employer pays you less than the HMRC maximum approved mileage rate, then you can claim the excess. This rate is45p for the first 10,000 miles and 25p per mile above this.
"Claim" any capital losses - these can be carried forward and offset against future capital gains.
Also, don't forget to claimhigher-rate tax relief on your charitable donations. This is also possible for memberships, such as of zoos, museums and conservation charities. These can also be backdated, so donations made since April 2016 can be claimednow, but don't include them in next year's return too.
olivia.rudgard@telegraph.co.uk
