Personal tax return

All individuals are subject to personal tax.  If your only source of income is from employment you are unlikely to need to complete a tax return as your employer will deduct tax automatically.

A sole trader running their own business must prepare business accounts for each separate business and include them in an annual tax return. As a freelancer or a director of a company you are required to register this fact with HMRC. The deadline for registering as self-employed is 5th October following the end of the tax year. When you register for the first time you’ll get a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) number. If you are re-registering you need to use the same UTR the HMRC have already provided.

Your self-assessment return for personal tax is always for the period from 6th April to 5th April of the following year.

The 2017 to 2018 tax year ended on 5 April 2018. The main deadlines are:

• paper tax returns – midnight 31 October 2018
• online tax returns – midnight 31 January 2019
• final payment of any tax due – midnight 31 January 2019

Business accounts

Your business accounts are not tied to the same financial year as personal tax, but in some cases it is easier to have a 31st March year end. An unincorporated business will be included in your personal tax return.  Limited companies are subject to Corporation Tax and taxed as a separate legal person from its owners.  Corporation Tax is calculated over a maximum period of 12 months corresponding to the year end of the company.  The following deadlines apply to private limited companies registered with Companies House:

For a fixed fee payable by monthly standing order, we can take care of your financial accounts, VAT administration and prepare your annual tax returns.  Although the deadlines above are all different, as a rule of thumb it is a good idea to file your company accounts and Corporation Tax return within 9 months of your year end so you know how much tax to pay.