Self Assessment tax returns for individuals, sole traders and landlords

Who has to send a Self Assessment return

Most employees and pensioners do not need one, because their tax is collected through PAYE. A return is needed when you have income or gains outside that system, or when HMRC asks for one. For the 2025-26 tax year (6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026), you must file if any of these applied:

• you were a sole trader and your self-employed income was more than £1,000 before expenses
• you were a partner in a business partnership
• your UK rental income was more than £2,500 after expenses, or more than £10,000 before them
• you received more than £10,000 of savings interest, or more than £10,000 of dividends
• you had other untaxed income of £2,500 or more, such as tips or commission
• you have Capital Gains Tax to pay
• you owe the High Income Child Benefit Charge (adjusted net income over £60,000) and are not paying it through your tax code
• you owe UK tax on foreign income, or you were not UK resident and had taxable UK income
• HMRC sent you a notice to file, whatever your circumstances

A high salary taxed under PAYE is no longer a reason to file on its own. The income test that used to apply, last set at £150,000, was removed from the 2024-25 tax year.

There are less common triggers too. Our article on who needs to file a Self Assessment return covers them all, and HMRC’s online checker gives an answer for your own facts.

The 2025-26 Self Assessment calendar

The pattern is the same every year: register by 5 October, file on paper by 31 October or online by 31 January, all counted from the end of the tax year.

Payments on account

Once your Self Assessment bill reaches £1,000, HMRC normally asks for two advance payments towards the following year, each half of the bill just worked out. They fall due on 31 January and 31 July. When the next year’s return is filed, any shortfall is paid the following 31 January as a balancing payment, and any excess is refunded or set against what you owe.

No payments on account are due if last year’s bill was under £1,000, or if more than 80% of last year’s tax was collected at source, for example through PAYE. If your income has fallen, you can ask HMRC to reduce them, but interest is charged if they are cut further than the final figures justify.

In a first year of filing, the January payment can come to the full bill plus half as much again. We set out every amount and date before you approve the return.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax has applied since 6 April 2026 to sole traders and landlords whose qualifying income for 2024-25 was over £50,000. Qualifying income is gross self-employment and property income added together, before expenses. Wages, dividends, pensions and a share of partnership profit do not count.

If you are in it, you keep digital records, send a summary of your income and expenses every quarter using compatible software, and submit your tax return through the same software by 31 January. The payment dates do not change.

The scheduled next stages are:

• from 6 April 2027, for qualifying income over £30,000 in 2025-26
• from 6 April 2028, for qualifying income over £20,000 in 2026-27

Partnerships will join later, on a timetable HMRC has not yet set, and some people are exempt, for example if they are digitally excluded. HMRC uses the 2025-26 return to decide who joins in April 2027, so the return due by 31 January 2027 settles more than that year’s tax. HMRC’s guidance on whether and when you need to use it includes a checking tool.

If you are already in Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, or expect to be from April 2027, tell us when you first get in touch, because it changes the records you keep through the year.

What we do

• Check whether you need to file, and register you with HMRC if you do
• Review your records and ask about anything missing or unclear
• Work out the figures for each source of income: self-employment, property, savings, dividends, pensions, gains and foreign income
• Consider the allowances and reliefs that apply to you, such as the trading or property allowance where it suits your figures better than actual expenses
• Prepare the return and the tax calculation and send them to you to check
• File the return as your agent once you have approved it
• Tell you what to pay, by when and how, including any payments on account

For HMRC to deal with us on your behalf, you authorise us as your agent. If you would like to look ahead at the coming year rather than back at the last one, see tax planning. If your business records need keeping up through the year, see bookkeeping.

What we need from you

• Your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) and National Insurance number, if you have them
• P60, P45 and P11D forms for any employment, and statements for any pensions
• Business income and expense records, with bank statements for the account the business uses
• Rent received, letting agent statements and property expenses, including mortgage interest
• Interest statements from banks and building societies, and dividend statements
• Purchase and sale details, with dates and costs, for anything sold or given away that may give a gain
• Personal pension contributions and Gift Aid donations
• Child Benefit details, if your income was over £60,000
• Any letters from HMRC, including a notice to file or a statement showing payments on account

Late returns, penalties and HMRC enquiries