Personal Tax Returns
Keep on top of your accounting obligations and understand your tax liability with Treetops Chartered Accountants.
Why do I need to do a personal tax return?
You will need to complete a self-assessment tax return if, in the last tax year (6th April to 5th April), any of the following applied to you:
- you were self-employed as a ‘sole trader’ and had sales of more than £1,000
- you were a partner in a business partnership
- you had to pay Capital Gains Tax when you sold or ‘disposed of’ something that increased in value (such as property or shares) or if you sold an asset for more than £50,000 even if you did not make a gain.
You may also need to send a tax return if you have any untaxed income, such as:
- money from renting out a property
- tips and commission
- income from savings, investments and dividends
- foreign income
When do I need to complete my personal tax return by?
The tax year runs from 6th April to 5th April the following year, and you have until the 31 January following the end of the tax year to submit your tax return electronically.
So, to break that down:
For the 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026 tax year, you have until 31 January 2027 to submit your tax return electronically. Don’t forget, if you are submitting by paper, the deadline is shorter and HMRC must receive your return by 31 October 2026.
How do I register for self-assessment?
In order to complete a self-assessment tax return, you will first need to register for self-assessment, so that HMRC are expecting your tax return.
To do this, you’ll need to go to the following website: https://www.gov.uk/register-for-self-assessment.
Once there, you need to click the green ‘Start now’ button.
You’ll then be asked ‘Why do you need to send a Self-Assessment tax return?’
If you are self-employed…
- Select the first option: ‘You’re self-employed (for example, a sole trader)’.
If you are a partner in a business partnership…
- Select the second option: ‘You’re a partner in a business partnership’.
If you need to complete a tax return for any other reason (see points 3 to 9 above):
- Select the third option: ‘For another reason’.
Then (click on arrow to the left of whichever applies to you)
You will be asked, ‘Did you send a tax return last year?’
If you did submit a personal tax return last year…
Select the first option: ‘Yes’.
Then, there is nothing else for you to do. You are already registered for Self-Assessment, and you will be able to submit a tax return again this year.
If you didn’t submit a personal tax return last year, BUT you have submitted a personal tax return in the past…
Select the second option: ‘No, but I have registered before’.
You will then be taken to a page, where you will be asked to ‘Reactivate your account’.
To do this, you will need your Government Gateway user ID and password, as well as your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) number.
If you have forgotten or lost your UTR, then you will need to call HMRC on 0300 200 3310, any time between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday, and request that they post a copy of your UTR to you. This will take around 10 days.
If you have forgotten or lost your Government Gateway user ID and password, then you will need to reset these, by scrolling down to the bottom of this page: https://www.access.service.gov.uk/login/signin/creds, and clicking ‘I have forgotten my Government Gateway user IS and password’.
If you have never submitted a personal tax return before…
Select the third option: ‘No, I’m registering for the first time’.
This will take you to a page, where you will be asked to ‘Register for Self-Assessment if you’re self-employed’.
Click the link that says ‘sign into your tax account’, and either sign in using your Government Gateway user ID and password, or create a Government Gateway user ID and password, if you don’t have one already.
This will take you to your Business Tax Account.
Click ‘Manage account’ in the menu.
And then find the heading which says ‘Add a tax, duty or scheme to your account’.
Under this heading, click the link that says ‘Get online access to a tax, duty or scheme’
You’ll then be asked the following series of questions:
Q: ‘What do you want to add’?
A: ‘Self-Assessment for individuals, sole traders, partnerships or trusts, or Making Tax Digital for Income Tax’
Q: ‘Do you have a Self-Assessment Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR)?
A: ‘No’.
Q: ‘Which of these best describes you?’
A: ‘individual or sole trader’
Q: ‘Are you self-employed?’
A: ‘yes’
This will take you to a page called ‘Register for HMRC taxes’
At the bottom of the page, select ‘Self-Assessment (including Class 2 National Insurance contributions)’ and press ‘continue’
Under ‘Type of Business’, select ‘self-employed/sole-trader/sole proprietor’, and click ‘Next’
Enter the date when your self-employed business started and click ‘next’
Click ‘next’ again and continue to fill in your personal and business information
Under personal information, you’ll need to enter:
Your full name
Your date of birth
Your national insurance (NIC) number
Confirmation that you are a UK resident
Confirmation of whether you are a share fisherman, a land and property business, a Lloyds Underwriter, a company director, a Minister of Religion, or an examiner
Whether or not your business is an investment
Whether you intend to work in the construction industry
Whether you work for one person or firm only
Your home address
Your contact details
Under business information, you’ll need to enter:
The date when the business began
The name of the business
The type of work that the business does
A business address (which can be your home address if you work from home)
And business contact details (which can be your personal contact details)
Once you have entered all of this information, click ‘next’ and continue to complete your registration.
Once your registration is complete, HMRC will post your UTR out to you. This normally takes between 15 and 21 working days, but can sometimes take longer during busy periods.
Please let us know once you receive your UTR, as we will need this in order to advise HMRC that we are your ‘authorised agent’ (which will allow us to communicate with them on your behalf if required) and also to submit your tax return.
You will be redirected to a page, which will ask you to ‘Register if you’re a partner or partnership’.
From here, you will need to click ‘Register for Self-Assessment using form SA401’.
Then, scroll down to ‘Documents’ and click ‘Online form service’
You’ll then be prompted to sign in with your Government Gateway user ID and password. If you already have these, then please log in. If you do not already have a personal tax account, then please create sign-in details.
Once you have logged in, you’ll be asked to fill in your personal and partnership information.
Under personal information, you’ll have to enter…
Your full name
Your home address
Your contact details
Your date of birth
Your national insurance number
Confirmation that you are a UK resident
Whether you have previously registered for Self-Assessment (i.e. have you ever completed a personal tax return before?)
Whether you are the nominated partner for the partnership you are joining? (The nominated partner will be in charge of signing and submitting the partnership accounts and tax returns)
The date on which your self-employment (i.e. the partnership) began
Under partnership information, you’ll have to enter…
The name of the partnership
The address of the partnership (this can be your home address)
A short description of the work the partnership carries out
The date when the partnership started OR the date when you joined the partnership
Whether a partnership Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) has already been allocated (please note that the partnership UTR will be different to your personal UTR. If the partnership has submitted a tax return before, then it will have a UTR. If not, then it likely does not already have a UTR)
Whether this is a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) or a Limited Partnership (LP)?
Whether you are entitled to a share of the profits, losses and other income from the partnership? (the answer to this will be ‘yes’ if you are a partner in the partnership)
Whether you are a sleeping or non-active partner? (This means that you are a partner in the partnership, and you will receive a portion of the partnership profits/losses, BUT you do no work in the partnership)
Whether the partnership is engaged in share fishing
Once you have entered all of this information, click ‘next’ and continue to complete your registration.
Please note: all partners will need to complete the above SA401 form, but then only one partner will need to complete the following SA400 form, in addition to the SA401.
So, if not already completed by another partner, you’ll then need to register the partnership using an SA400 form.
Please return to this link: https://www.gov.uk/register-for-self-assessment/y/you-re-a-partner-in-a-business-partnership, then click ‘register your partnership’
Then click ‘Register a partnership online’
You’ll then be asked to fill in some information about the partnership and the nominated partner. This is a very similar process to the SA401 form you just completed, but please be aware that you do have to complete both forms. And please make sure that the information you include is consistent between both forms.
Under partnership information, they’ll ask for…
The name of the partnership
If the trading name of the partnership is different to the one you just entered
The address of the partnership (this can be your home address if you work from home)
If the trading address of the partnership is different to the one you just entered
The partnership telephone number (this can be your personal telephone number)
The nature of the business being carried out (e.g. plumbers, investment business, engineers etc)
The date on which the business commenced
The type of partnership (i.e. partnership, Limited Liability Partnership, or Limited Partnership. If you are unsure about your partnership type, or think you might benefit from changing your partnership type, please let us know and we would be happy to provide further information on this matter. Please be aware that LLPs should be registered with Companies House as well as HMRC).
The partnership’s accounting date (this will be 5th April for all new partnerships)
Under nominated partner information, they’ll ask for…
The name of the nominated partner (The nominated partner will be in charge of signing and submitting the partnership accounts and tax returns, and can be any of the partners within the partnership)
The correspondence address of the nominated partner
Whether the nominated partner is registered for self-assessment (if you click ‘yes’, then it will ask for the UTR of the nominated partner. If you have completed the SA401 form, but have not yet received your personal UTR, then you are registered for self-assessment, but you’ll need to click ‘no’, because you do not yet have your UTR)
Once you have entered all of this information, click ‘next’ and continue to complete your registration.
Once your registration is complete, HMRC will post your partnership UTR out to you. This normally takes between 15 and 21 working days, but can sometimes take longer during busy periods.
Please let us know once you receive your UTR, as we will need this in order for us to advise HMRC that we are your ‘authorised agent’ (which will allow us to communicate with them on your behalf if required) and to submit your tax return.
You will be asked, ‘Did you send a tax return last year?’
If you did submit a personal tax return last year…
Select the first option: ‘Yes’.
Then, there is nothing else for you to do. You are already registered for Self-Assessment, and you will be able to submit a tax return again this year.
If you didn’t submit a personal tax return last year, BUT you have submitted a personal tax return in the past…
Select the second option: ‘No, but I have registered before’.
You will then be taken to a page, where you will be asked to ‘Reactivate your account’.
To do this, you will need your Government Gateway user ID and password, as well as your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) number.
If you have forgotten or lost your UTR, then you will need to call HMRC on 0300 200 3310, any time between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday, and request that they post a copy of your UTR to you. This will take around 10 days.
If you have forgotten or lost your Government Gateway user ID and password, then you will need to reset these, by scrolling down to the bottom of this page: https://www.access.service.gov.uk/login/signin/creds, and clicking ‘I have forgotten my Government Gateway user IS and password’.
If you have never submitted a personal tax return before…
Select the third option: ‘No, I’m registering for the first time’.
This will take you to a page, where you will be asked to ‘Register for Self-Assessment if you’re not self-employed’.
Click the green button which says ‘Start Now’
First, you’ll be asked to log into your Government Gateway account. If you don’t already have a Government Gateway user ID and password, then please create one now.
Once logged in, you’ll be asked for some information about yourself and about why you need to complete a tax return.
Under ‘About you’, please enter…
Your full name (including your previous surname, and the date on which you changed your surname, if applicable)
Your national insurance number
Your date of birth
Your UTR if you have ever previously registered for Self-Assessment (this will be not applicable)
Your current home address, and the date on which you moved to this address
Your daytime telephone number and email address
Under ‘Why do you need to complete a tax return?’, please tick the box/boxes which apply to you, and enter the date on which you began to qualify to complete a Self-Assessment tax return for that reason.
(for instance, if you earn over £150,000, then please tick the box which says ‘My annual income will exceed £150,000, and enter the date on which your salary exceeded or will exceed this amount)
Please then sign the declaration at the bottom of the page and click ‘Next’ to complete your application.
Once your registration is complete, HMRC will post your UTR out to you. This normally takes between 15 and 21 working days, but can sometimes take longer during busy periods.
Please let us know once you receive your UTR, as we will need this in order to advise HMRC that we are your ‘authorised agent’ (which will allow us to communicate with them on your behalf if required) and also to submit your tax return.
What information will we need to allow us to complete your personal tax return?
To allow us to complete your self-assessment tax return for you, you will first need to send us all of your personal tax information which relates to the period 6th April to 5th April.
Your personal tax information may include the following (click on the arrow to whichever applies to you).
- Bank interest received in the year (EXCLUDING interest received on ISAs) and any tax already suffered at source on this interest
- Income from investments (e.g. interest and dividends paid on shareholdings) and the date of payments
- Information about the ownership of investments (for example if investments are jointly owned with your partner)
- Pensions received, including state and private pensions (P60 forms) and tax already suffered on these pensions
- Pension contributions made in the year (either workplace via your payslips or personal)
- Any taxable allowances (such as Carer’s Allowance and Jobseeker’s Allowance)
- Your student loan plan, if applicable (i.e. 1, 2, 4, 5 or Postgraduate Loan)
- Any charitable donations you made in the year on which you claimed Gift-Aid
- If there has been a significant change in your annual income, please let us know why
- Do you or your spouse/civil partner earn less than £12,570 in the year? If so, please let us know if you have already made a marriage allowance claim, or whether you would like more information about marriage allowance
- Winter fuel allowance received (if your income is over £35,000)
- Details of all directorships you hold
- Employment income (P60/P45 form and final two payslips for the tax year)
- Benefits in kind received from employment (P11d form)
- Were you were required by your employer to work from home for all or part of the year? And have you already received any Home Office Allowance from your employer?
- Any employment expenses (such as mileage or subscriptions to professional bodies) and whether your employer has reimbursed you for these already
- If you were part of an employee share scheme then we will need the monthly/quarterly statements from your broker for the year.
- How many properties do you rent?
- Are they residential or commercial properties?
- The address of the rental property/properties
- Details of the rental income received in the year (separated by property)
- Details of mortgage interest and mortgage arrangement fees paid in the year for loans taken out with the purpose of purchasing the rental property/properties (EXCLUDING capital mortgage repayments)
- Details of any other expenses incurred, separated by property, such as: Letting agent fees, Ground rent, Insurance, Gas and electrical safety checks, Repairs, maintenance and renewals, Council tax, water rates, utilities paid by yourself during periods when the property wasn’t let, Travel costs for property inspections, Cleaning costs, Costs of any services you provide for the tenants (e.g. TV licence, broadband, telephone line, etc)
- If the property is owned jointly between 2 or more people, confirmation of the split of the property ownership (please note that jointly owned properties are automatically split 50/50 between husband and wife and civil partners unless a Deed of Trust has been put in place and form 17 filed with HMRC)
- The date on which you began your self-employment
- And the date on which you ceased your self-employment (if relevant)
- The income from your self-employment in the year (including all sales, CIS statements if applicable, and bank interest received by a business bank account)
- Any expenses incurred in the year including: Purchases (items which you purchased to sell or to use directly for the service or goods you provide), Payments to subcontractors or employees, Employer’s National Insurance contributions and pension contributions if you employ staff, Travel and subsistence costs only for itinerant workers, or for trips outside of your normal pattern of work (please note that travel and subsistence costs are not allowable if you travel to the same place of work every day), Fuel and vehicle maintenance costs only for any vehicles included as assets in your accounts, Rent costs if you are renting an office space, Or details of your Home Office Allowance entitlement (please contact us for further information about how to calculate this), The cost of telephone and internet bills and a personal vs business usage split for your telephone (e.g. 50% business use and 50% personal use), Printing, postage and stationery costs, Insurance costs, The cost of subscriptions to organisations included on HMRC’s list of approved professional bodies, The costs of equipment purchase or hire, Computer costs, Costs related to repairs and maintenance for company assets or your office space, Bank charges only for business bank accounts, Advertising and PR costs, Hire purchase and lease costs for company assets
- If you wish to include a vehicle as an asset in the accounts we’ll need to know: The make, model and registration number of the vehicle EITHER the value of the vehicle, at the date when you wish to make it a business asset (you can find the rough value of the vehicle by using this link), OR the purchase price of the car and the date of purchase (if within the current tax year), A personal vs business usage split for the vehicle (e.g. 50% business use and 50% personal use)
- As much detail as you can provide about the item in question (e.g. the address of the property, or the number of shares and the company/companies to which the shares belong)
- The purchase price of the item and the date of purchase
- Any capital costs incurred on the purchase of the item (e.g. stamp duty, and legal fees for the purchase property)
- The sale price of the item and date of sale and costs of the sale such as agent and legal fees
- Any capital costs incurred on improving the property
- Any paperwork outlining the tax treatment of the item, particularly for shares acquired within a share scheme, or shares acquired for less than market value
- If you sold Cryptocurrencies in the tax year please send us the cost, proceeds and the number of disposals
- Did you or your partner claim child benefit in the year and either of you have taxable income of £60,000 or more? (please note that we will need to know this even if you are living with your partner but not married)
- How many children you were claiming child benefit for during the year?
- Did you claim child benefit only for part of the year, or the full year?
- The country in which the income arose
- The type of income (e.g. interest, dividends, pension etc)
- The full value of the income in the currency of the country of origin
- The date of payment(s)
- Details of any foreign tax already suffered on this income, again in the currency of the country of origin
What happens if I don’t submit my tax return on time?
How can Treetops help?
We will take away the stress of submitting your tax return. You will get an easy to understand list of everything we need and can rest assured that we will be looking at every opportunity to save you tax.
Our agent access will allow us to keep an eye on your HMRC account giving you peace of mind that you’re up to date with all your submissions and payments.
Call us or complete our website contact form to book your free meeting with one of our team.
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