They are...inevitable
Due to the interaction of time, money and children, I have ended up slipping into the category of employment where my tax affairs become slightly more complex. Not terribly so, but enough that I got a letter from HM Revenue & Customs asking me to check the child benefit payments that myself and cori_gated receive for mini-guybles.
Now, I'd be vaguely aware that I might no longer be entitled to (all of) this benefit, but was massively put off doing anything about it due to the requirement to move onto tax self-assessment. Which I know is a thing for the Americans, but from the UK sense I've always regarded as being somewhat of a thing for real high-earners. Not people like me. I don't earn that much. Surely?
Well, apparently I do. After I spent about fifteen minutes digging through various bits of paper, I'd assembled a body of historic tax documentation that relates to my income and deductions, then proceeded to crunch through the numbers.
Long story short, I owe the tax people a grand. Nice. Still, they were very pleasant on the phone when I called to disclose the situation and advised that, because I wasn't being troublesome about it, there would be no penalty (although probably some interest due). It's not a total disaster; I have savings to cover this sort of thing.
However, it does mean that I no longer have any choice but to go to self-assessment. Once a year, I'm going to have to remember to do my tax return on time...and to keep all the documents that allow me to do it.
In the end, however, it could play off not too badly for me: now I can start claiming various deductions...