Making Christmas more festive
According to figures from the Bank of England, a typical household in the UK spends just over £2,500 in a month. In the run up to Christmas, though, our spending habits change and, in December, we pay out, on average, almost £740 more, which is 29% up on a typical month.
According to a recent article in Good Housekeeping, some of the top toy trends parents can look forward to this year will be tied into films, particularly with the PAW Patrol movie recently hitting the big screens. A quick Google reveals that the PAW Patrol Movie Ultimate City Transforming Tower Playset could set you back around £160, which is a big dent in the festive budget.
For many of us, January seems like a never-ending freezing cold month, after the excitement of the Christmas period and most of us feel like we’ve got much less spare cash. On top of this, if we’ve left it until January to fill-in our Self Assessment, then that wouldn’t make this gloomy month any less hard.
That said, while the focus is often on completing the tax return ahead of the 31 January deadline, what often gets overlooked is the fact that we are also expected to make a payment on that day as well. And, in the aftermath of Christmas, it couldn’t come at a more inconvenient time!
This is another reason to plan ahead and get all the information needed to complete your Self Assessment tax return to our team at Lewis & Co well ahead of the festive period. Not only will you discover what you owe ahead of the end of January and can budget better – although we’d always recommend regularly putting funds aside each month to cover your tax payments – but if you’ve got any tax refunds heading your direction, you’ll receive them sooner. In theory, in time to cover those extra expenses which Christmas brings.
Here at Lewis & Co, we would always suggest that people plan ahead and give themselves the time to find our how much tax they need to pay – even if that simply takes away some of the stress around this holiday period. The sooner you can send all your information to us, the more time we’ll have to work through any questions we might need answered before your form is completed.
If you’ve got any questions about getting your accounts in order ahead of the deadline, please do call us on: 01892 513515.