Your Personal Tax Accountant

Do You Need To Complete a Self-Assessment Tax Return?

You will need to file a self-assessment tax return if any of the following statements are true for you:

• You earn over £100,000 per annum (this includes employed high earners paying tax via PAYE)
• You have any foreign income (including in investment portfolios).
• You are a landlord renting out a property
• You are self-employed
• You are a partner in a partnership

There are also many other reasons why you may need to register, if you’re not sure use this HMRC tool to work it out.

NEXT STEPS

1. Register for Self-Assessment by 5 October Following The Tax Year

If you have a National Insurance number this can be done online

If you don’t, you will need to post the forms to HMRC

If you are self-employed, use this HMRC form to register for self-assessment  

If you are not self-employed but still need to complete a tax return, use this form

2. Unique Tax Reference (UTR)

Once your form has been filed, you need to wait for HMRC to send you a letter via snail mail. This can take up to 12 weeks, so don’t panic.

The letter you received will contain a 10-digit number, which is your Unique Tax Return or UTR. This is what you need to be able to file a self-assessment tax return, so don’t lose it! Take a photo of it on your phone, file it in a safe place, or have it tattooed somewhere discretely on your body if you have to – but don’t lose it.

3. Personal Tax Account

Make sure you set up your personal tax account with HMRC, you can do that here https://www.gov.uk/log-in-register-hmrc-online-services

Boring bit – when you register they need to identify you so make sure you have your National Insurance Number, latest payslips, P60 and passport to hand.

We know what you’re asking – why do I need to set this up?

• If you want to do your own self-assessment tax return, you can do it through here
• You can view and update all of the personal information HMRC holds for you
• You can ask for tax code changes, see that your tax and national insurance has been paid, etc.

4. Tax Deadlines

So you’re all set up and ready to rock and roll, what next?

The UK tax year runs to 5 April and the deadline to file your return is 31 January the following year. For example, for the tax year ending 5 April 2023, the filing deadline is 31 January 2024.

You also need to pay all taxes owed for 5 April 2023 by 31 January 2024, plus your first payment on account (if required) for 2024.   The second payment on the account falls due by 31 July 2022.

5. Payments on Account

You’ve read point 4 above and are panicking about payments on account now aren’t you?  Don’t worry, we’re one step ahead. If you want the technical explanation, have a look here https://www.gov.uk/understand-self-assessment-bill/payments-on-account

Otherwise, payments on account works like this:

• Your tax return shows a liability of more than £1,000
• Less than 80% of the tax owed has already been collected through your tax code (i.e through employment/pension income)

If this is the case, you have to make payments on account, let’s show you an example…

Example of a Payment on Account with Mr Stripes.

Mr Stripes asked his amazing personal tax accountants, Zebra, to prepare his self-assessment tax return for the year ended 5 April 2023.

Wendy said ‘Mr Stripes, your total liability for the year is £20,000. You have had £10,000 collected through your job, so you have £10,000 left to pay – the date to pay this is 31st January 2024.

As you owe more than £1,000 and only 50% of the tax owed was collected through your employer, I’m afraid you will also need to make payments on account towards your 2024 liability, so your payment schedule looks like this.

Due 31 January 2022

£10,000 liability owed for year ended 5 April 2023

£5,000 1^st payment on account for the year ended 5 April 2024 (which is 50% of the 2021 liability)

£15,000 – total liability

The 2^nd payment on account of £5,000 needs to be paid by 31 July 2024’

Is your head spinning?

Do you want to be like Mr. Stripes and have a Tax Accountant help you?

Personal Tax & Self-Assessment Services

A basic self-assessment tax return will cost you just £300 + VAT

We complete self-assessment returns for a wide range of people. To get started, either click on the link in the column on the right to get a quote, or click on one of the links below which relates to the service you require: 

• Self Employed Accountant
• Landlord Accountants
• Expat Taxes & Foreign Income