FreeAgent, the UK’s market-leader in online accounting, is making Self Assessment even easier for small businesses this year by not only making tax return filing as simple as possible, but by also offering to help pay their tax bill.
To celebrate the launch of its innovative new “Fast File” feature – which enables sole traders to file their Self Assessment tax returns with HMRC directly through FreeAgent – the company will pick one lucky subscriber from its customer base and give them £5000 towards their tax, in order to help further soften the blow of Self Assessment in 2014.
With the introduction of “Fast File”, FreeAgent has become the first accounting system to offer sole traders in the UK the ability to automatically fill and file Self Assessment tax returns without the need to use HMRC Online.
FreeAgent automatically completes up to 90 per cent of the self-employment forms directly from the user’s existing accounting data, which means sole traders save valuable time and hassle when doing their Self Assessment; particularly during the traditionally stressful weeks leading-up to the filing deadline on January 31st.
Ed Molyneux, CEO and co-founder of FreeAgent, said: “Our mission is to make life easier for all of the UK’s 4 million plus micro-businesses, which represent 95 per cent of all enterprises. Filing tax returns are the bane of most business owners’ lives, and the days leading up to the 31st Jan deadline are pretty fraught both for them and their accountants.
“We’ve introduced our new Fast File feature to give sole traders an easier method than ever to complete and submit their tax returns – and, to celebrate this, we’ve decided to make Self Assessment season even more enjoyable for one lucky small business this year. No-one really enjoys paying their taxes, so we’ll be picking one of our customers and give them a boost for the year ahead by paying £5000 towards their tax bill.
“Fast File aims to simplify Self Assessment and alleviate some of the anxiety and stress that people traditionally feel when submitting their tax returns. We’re already helping to make Self Assessment a breeze for many sole traders throughout the UK in 2014 – and we’re looking forward to giving someone an extra-special bonus with their taxes as well.”
All current direct UK FreeAgent customers, as well as all new users who subscribe by January 31st, will be entered in the competition and one name will be picked at random to win the £5000 prize towards their tax. If the winner has a tax bill of less than £5000, they will still receive the full amount of prize money, which they can spend elsewhere in their business.
