What is a Self Assessment tax return?

In a nutshell

The self-assessment tax return is a form that individual taxpayers falling under certain categories must submit to HMRC to report their income, capital gains and other financial information.

Tax is usually deducted automatically from wages via PAYE but it’s possible that people or businesses have other income that doesn’t get taxed via PAYE. The self-assessment tax return is designed to help HMRC collect income-related tax where PAYE falls short.

Who must submit a tax return?

Refer to this page for more information but some examples of when you might need to submit a tax return include:

• You’re a director of a limited company.
• You’re a partner in a business partnership.
• You earn rental income.
• You earned £100,000 or more in a tax year.

Use this tool if you’re unsure.

When must you submit the self-assessment tax return?

The deadline is usually before January 31st following the end of the tax year. For example, if you’re filing for the tax year 2022/2023, you’ll need to submit your tax return by 31/01/2024.

How do you submit a tax return?

You’ll need to record information for the tax year you’re submitting (e.g., employment income, self-employment income, rental income, savings, and investments).

Once you have this information, you can submit your return using the HMRC website (see here) or use specialized software like FreeAgent.

Specialized software should calculate how much tax you’ll need to pay depending on the information you input.

Once you’ve submitted your return, HMRC should tell you how much you owe.

Sources

• Self Assessment tax returns – gov.uk
• Deadlines for tax returns – gov.uk
• Who must send a tax return – gov.uk