Self Assessment tax returns

2. Who must send a tax return

The tax year is from 6 April to 5 April the following year.

You’ll need to send a tax return if, in the last tax year:

  • you were self-employed - you can deduct allowable expenses
  • you got £2,500 or more in untaxed income, for example from renting out a property or savings and investments - contact the helpline if it was less than £2,500
  • your savings or investment income was £10,000 or more before tax
  • you made profits from selling things like shares, a second home or other chargeable assets and need to pay Capital Gains Tax
  • you were a company director - unless it was for a non-profit organisation (such as a charity) and you didn’t get any pay or benefits, like a company car
  • your income (or your partner’s) was over £50,000 and one of you claimed Child Benefit
  • you had income from abroad that you needed to pay tax on
  • you lived abroad and had a UK income
  • you got dividends from shares and you’re a higher or additional rate taxpayer - but if you don’t need to send a return for any other reason, contact the helpline instead
  • your income was over £100,000
  • you were a trustee of a trust or registered pension scheme
  • you had a P800 from HMRC saying you didn’t pay enough tax last year - and you didn’t pay what you owe through your tax code or with a voluntary payment

Certain other people may need to send a return (for example religious ministers or Lloyd’s underwriters) - you can check whether you need to. You usually won’t need to send a return if your only income is from your wages or pension.

If you’ve been told to send a return

If you get an email or letter from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) telling you to send a return, you must send it - even if you don’t have any tax to pay.

If you used to send a tax return but don’t need to send one for the last tax year, you can contact HMRC to close your Self Assessment account.

You must also tell HMRC if you’ve stopped being self-employed.

Claiming tax relief

Fill in a tax return to claim money back from HMRC for:

Registering for Self Assessment

You need to register if you didn’t send a tax return last year. How you do this depends on whether:

If you’re new to Self Assessment, you’ll need to keep records (for example bank statements or receipts) so you can fill in your tax return correctly.

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Last updated: 2 September 2016