Do you need to submit a self-assessment tax return

According to HMRC, you are required to send in a tax return in the last tax year if:

• you were self-employed – you can deduct allowable expenses
• you got £2,500 or more in untaxed income, for example from tips or renting out a property
• your income from savings or investments was £10,000 or more before tax
• your income from dividends from shares 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
• your taxable 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
• your State Pension was more than your Personal Allowance and was your only source of income – unless you started getting your pension on or after 6 April 2016

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

There are penalties for non-submission of returns, so if you are at all uncertain that you should submit a return, please call, we would be delighted to offer an opinion.