Published on
April 17, 2020
Self-employed people in Wandsworth have just a few days left to take advantage of an emergency scheme which helps them submit tax returns for last year if they missed the earlier deadline.
Wandsworth Council is offering free accountancy services thanks to a link-up with local accountants who are on stand-by to help self-employed residents be in a position to access much-needed government funds. But residents must apply to the council for accountants’ help by the newly extended deadline of Sunday 19 April.
The council’s new scheme offers, for a limited period, free accountancy advice to help local self-employed people in filing their tax returns for 2018-19 before HMRC’s deadline of 23 April 2020. To be eligible, residents must not yet have submitted their return for 2018-19.
Funds from the government’s Self-employment Income Support Scheme during COVID-19 are available to self-employed people with annual profits of less than £50,000. It is managed by HMRC but to qualify you must have submitted your tax return for the 2018-19 year before the 23 April deadline.
With a self-employed community of over 35,000 people, Wandsworth has one of the highest rates of residents in self-employment across London boroughs. Some of those may find it difficult to afford access to an accountant to submit their tax return, especially at this time.
Once your application has been received, the council will put you in touch with an accountant at no cost to you.
Apply online now for the self-employed tax return support scheme
Councillor Jonathan Cook, Wandsworth Council’s cabinet member for economic development, skills and employment said: “We have launched this emergency tax return initiative as we want as many residents as possible to benefit from the government’s scheme. If you have been unable to submit your tax return do get in touch to see if we can help as we don’t want anyone to miss out.
“As well as supporting this section of self-employed people, we’re aware that the government scheme doesn’t cover all those in our borough who are facing financial difficulties right now. We’re lobbying central government on the need to re-think thresholds and consider what support could be given to owner-managers.
“We believe in the importance of fairness and supporting community resilience during these challenging times. Wandsworth’s entrepreneurs and self-employed are the bedrock of our local economy so we need them to be in the best position to lead the way on economic recovery when the time is right.”
