Self Assessment

Self Assessment is how HMRC collects Income Tax that has not been fully dealt with through PAYE or other deductions. A return brings together your income, relevant expenses, reliefs and gains for one tax year. The UK personal tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April, rather than the calendar year.

Howarths prepares personal tax returns for sole traders, landlords, company directors and individuals with additional income. We review the supporting information, prepare the calculation and explain the position before submission. A return may be required even when there is little or no tax to pay.

• Preparing and submitting Self Assessment returns, including the supplementary pages relevant to your income.
• Bringing together employment, pension, self-employment, property, savings and dividend information.
• Reviewing allowable business and rental expenses and separating them from private spending.
• Reporting relevant capital gains and discussing separate reporting obligations where they apply.
• Resolving more than one outstanding tax year, with records and calculations considered for each year.
• Explaining the tax calculation, payments on account and the information needed to support the return.

HMRC identifies several clear reasons for filing. These are not simply a matter of whether you have a job or how much money arrives in your bank account.

Sole traders and people with a side business

You normally need to file if your gross income from self-employment is more than £1,000 in a tax year. That is income before expenses, not your profit. Freelancing, consultancy and a trade alongside employment can all count. For example, £1,600 of freelance receipts crosses this reporting threshold even if related expenses leave only £400 of profit. The £1,000 trading allowance has conditions and exceptions; it is not a blanket exemption for every receipt.

Partners in a business partnership

A partner in a business partnership must send a personal return. The partnership's return reports the partnership figures; each partner's own return reports their share alongside any other personal income. One does not replace the other.

Landlords and property owners

For personally owned rental property, HMRC says you must report rental income on a return if it is more than £2,500 after allowable expenses or more than £10,000 before expenses. If rental income is above £1,000 but below the return thresholds, you should contact HMRC about how to report it. The property allowance, joint ownership and other income can affect the position. Property owned by a limited company is dealt with through the company's tax reporting, not the owner's personal rental pages.

People with other untaxed income or capital gains

You may need to file for untaxed tips or commission, taxable savings interest, dividends, foreign income or taxable UK income as a non-UK resident. The allowances and reporting rules for each source are different: receiving a small dividend does not automatically mean a return is needed. Capital Gains Tax on a disposal can also require a return, and certain property disposals have a separate reporting process.

High Income Child Benefit Charge and other reporting situations

The High Income Child Benefit Charge can apply where adjusted net income exceeds £60,000 and you or your partner receive Child Benefit. HMRC requires a return if you have to pay the charge and are not paying it through PAYE. Adjusted net income is not necessarily the same as salary. HMRC also lists off-payroll workers repaying a student or postgraduate loan as a filing category. Use HMRC's checker for a decision based on your complete circumstances.

No. Being a company director is not, by itself, a reason to submit a personal return. Employment taxed through PAYE does not automatically create a filing requirement either. Additional income, gains and other reporting conditions need to be considered. A company tax return does not report a director's personal income.

If HMRC has issued a notice to file, do not assume you can ignore it because you believe no tax is due. File the return or ask HMRC to withdraw the requirement where appropriate. Equally, someone who does not routinely file may need to notify HMRC when a new source of income creates a tax liability.

Provide records for the specific tax year, not just your latest bank balance. Employment and pension income usually need P60s, P45s where relevant and benefits information. For a business, sales records, invoices, receipts, bank statements and details of equipment purchases help establish the figures. A bank entry alone may not explain whether a payment is business income, a transfer or a loan.

For rental property, gather rent statements, agents' fees, repairs, insurance and finance information. For investments, provide dividend and interest statements and acquisition and disposal records. Pension contributions and Gift Aid donations may also be relevant. Let us know about overseas income and HMRC correspondence rather than leaving them out because the tax treatment is unclear.

The 2025/26 tax year ended on 5 April 2026. If you need to register or reactivate Self Assessment for that year, HMRC's normal notification date is 5 October 2026. The normal paper return date is 31 October 2026; the normal online filing and balancing-payment date is 31 January 2027. Special cases and notices issued later can have different filing dates, but a later filing date does not automatically move the payment date.

Registration, submitting a return and paying the bill are three separate actions. Registering does not submit your return, and filing does not pay the tax. If a date has already passed, deal with the outstanding position promptly rather than waiting for another tax year.

Payments on account are advance instalments towards the following year's tax bill. Each instalment is normally half of the relevant previous year's bill, with instalments due on 31 January and 31 July. They are not an extra tax charge, but they can make the cash payment larger than someone expects in their first year of Self Assessment.

You normally do not need payments on account if the relevant previous year's tax was less than £1,000 or more than 80% of your tax was paid outside Self Assessment, for example through PAYE. Capital Gains Tax and student loan repayments are not included in the payments-on-account calculation. If expected income falls, a reduction may be possible, but reducing too far can result in interest.

Yes. Tell us which years are outstanding and whether HMRC has issued notices, estimates or penalties. Each return needs the rules and records for its own tax year; submitting the newest return does not clear earlier years. Where records are missing, we can discuss what can be recovered from bank statements, employers, agents and previous advisers.

Unreported income may require a disclosure rather than simply adding everything to the latest return. We can review the circumstances and explain the appropriate next step. We cannot promise that penalties or interest will be cancelled.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies in stages to qualifying sole traders and landlords. It introduces digital records and quarterly updates, but there is still a final tax return for the year. Employment or dividend income alone does not count towards the qualifying self-employment and property-income threshold. See our Sole Traders & Making Tax Digital service for the thresholds and process.

Guidance reviewed on 5 October 2026. These notes explain general rules and examples, not advice on an individual's complete tax position.

• HMRC: who must send a tax return and the eligibility checker
• HMRC: tax on rental income and reporting thresholds
• HMRC: Self Assessment filing and payment dates
• HMRC: payments on account
• HMRC: High Income Child Benefit Charge