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
  • your untaxed income was £2,500 or more, eg from rent or investments - contact the helpline if your untaxed income is less
  • your work expenses were £2,500 or more
  • 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’s for a non-profit organisation, eg a charity, and you don’t get any pay or benefits, like travel expenses or a company car)
  • your income was over £50,000 and you or your partner got Child Benefit
  • you had income from abroad that you need to pay tax on
  • you lived abroad and had a UK income
  • your income was over £100,000

There are other reasons you may need to send a return - 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 get a letter from HMRC telling you send a return, you must send it - even if you don’t have any tax to pay.

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 (eg bank statements or receipts) so you can fill in your tax return correctly.

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Last updated: 30 January 2015