Declan's week: sudden death for taxes

Nine million of us need to complete a tax return

If you still haven't done your do-it-yourself tax form, you don't have days left to do it. You've got just hours.

You won't have much time for the usual elegant prose from me, or a lot of long-winded advice.

So this week - we're going to skip the regular weekly letter, and instead give you a last minute checklist to help you fill up that form before Friday's deadline.

Do I need to fill up a tax form?

If you've been sent one, yes.

But even if you haven't been sent a form, you might have to ask for one anyway. You'll need a tax form if:

You work for yourself, or run your own company

You help run a company, as a director

You've earned money on top of your regular job - even if you pay tax through your pay packet.

You earn tips at work (check that your boss hasn't already paid tax on them)

You're a pensioner, working part time after retirement

You have a lodger, or made money from your house or land

You made money buying and selling stocks and shares

You got interest on your bank savings, and pay 40% tax at work

You were left money or property by a relative

Top tips

If you haven't received a form - check in case you need to ask for one. If in doubt, ring the tax office

Get all your information together, and keep it safe

Check you've got all the right parts of the form - or make sure you've got your User ID if you're filing online

Read the form though carefully first, and double check your calculations

Keep copies of everything - forms and calculations - and keep them safe for the next few years

Get the form and the payment in before 31 January

Buy a shoe-box for next year - and start filling it up from April

It's better to be safe than sorry. If there's anything unusual about the money you earn, you should ask the taxman if you need a form.

How do I get started?

If you haven't got a form, get one now. Ring the tax help line, or call round your local tax office. The order line for extra forms is 0845 9000 404

Even if you have got a form, check you've got all the right sections - there are different sheets for different income.

It may be too late to fill up the tax form on the Internet, as you need to wait for a User ID number before you can get going. Check with the tax office's e-help line on 0845 60 55 999

What are my next steps?

Get together all the paperwork that shows what you earned (and spent for business reasons) between 6 April 2001 and 5 April 2002. You'll need:

Your P60 form - that shows what you were paid last tax year - use pay slips if you can't find it.

Your P11D form - that shows the expenses your boss paid for you

Your P45 form - if you changed jobs during the year

Bank statements and letters - showing interest paid and deducted

Share trading statements - for shares sold before the end of the tax year

Rent books - if you have a lodger

You may also need receipts for any spending that you can use to cut your tax bills - extra household bills from using the back bedroom as an office, things you bought to improve the lodgers' bedroom, items you bought that were essential for your work on the side.

Then what?

Lock yourself up in a quiet part of the house - no TV, no kids, no pets.

Read the form through carefully - and read the help notes you've been sent if you don't understand anything.

Fill it up in pencil, double check the entries, then fill it up in pen.

Take copies of the form and keep them safe with all your records. Sign it.

Is it too late?

No. Your form has to be with a tax office - any tax office - by first post on Friday 31st January.

If you're doing it this week, it might be better to hand-deliver it to your local tax office. They're required to accept it, so take no nonsense from them. Don't forget to get a receipt.

If you're still filling it up last thing on Thursday night, you can pop it through the tax office's letterbox before they open for business on Friday morning.

Don't forget the money

You need to work out your own tax bill, and pay the money you owe by Friday too - though that normally goes to a different address. Don't put the cheque in the same envelope as your tax form.

If you've already got a girobank payslip for your bill, you can pay at your bank or local post office, or send a cheque to the address on the slip - but beware the postal delays.

If you're short on time, you can pay by Delta or Switch card by calling the payment line - 0845 305 1000

You're already too late to ask the tax office to take the money you owe out of next year's pay packet.

If you've haven't worked out your bill yet, tax experts say it's better to pay something than nothing. You may want to pay slightly more than you think you owe - that may avoid interest charges, and you can sort the difference out later.

What if I miss Friday's deadline?

The taxman will fine you £100 - no questions asked. You'll also get charged interest on the tax you owe.

Declan Curry is Breakfast's regular business presenter, bringing you live updates from the London Stock Exchange every weekday morning from 6am.