Well, to answer the first question, yes, you do need to include your salary information on your Self Assessment tax return, but this doesn’t mean you’ll need to pay tax on that money again.

Why do I need to include my wages on my tax return?

The amount of tax you pay depends on how much you earn in total during a tax year, so you’ll need to report all your income when you complete a Self Assessment tax return to make sure you pay tax correctly – even if you’ve already paid tax on some of it.

Do I actually need to submit a Self Assessment?

You’ll probably need to submit a Self Assessment, even though you’re employed and pay tax through the PAYE system, if you also:

• Have extra sources of income such as from self-employment, a side-hustle, dividends, or property
• Receive taxable benefits
• Earn over £60,000 and receive Child Benefit

Where do I include PAYE income on my Self Assessment form?

If you complete your Self Assessment online then this is really straightforward. You’ll be asked a series of questions to make sure you see the correct sections that are relevant to your circumstances.

If you have earned income from employment that has been taxed at source through PAYE, this should be recorded in the ‘Employment’ section of your Self Assessment tax return form.

Anyone who uses a paper-based form to submit their Self Assessment form will need to complete a supplementary SA102 form for each employment they had during that tax year. You’ll need to provide:

• Your employer’s name and PAYE reference number
• Pre-tax employment income
• The amount of tax you have already paid on your employment earnings
• Your employment expenses or benefits, if applicable

Paying Self Assessment tax through PAYE

If you’re employed and being paid through PAYE and you owe less than £3,000 in self-employed tax following your Self Assessment submission, you have the option to pay your tax bill via your tax code.

The benefit of this is that you can spread your tax payments out over the year, rather than paying in one lump sum, by simply bumping up the amount of tax you pay through PAYE each month.

Just be aware that your employer will see the change to your tax code, so they might ask questions! Important to keep that in mind if they don’t know about your side-hustle.

 
Find more business tips and expert advice on our website, or check out our go-to guide to finding the right accountant for you.

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You don’t need to appoint an accountant, but it’s why some self-employed business owners hire an accountant to file their tax return for them, rather than spending time and risking errors by doing it themselves. If you do go for this option though, you’ll still need to do some preliminary work to provide your accountant with the information they need to submit a Self Assessment on your behalf.

If you don’t supply your accountant with all the information they need, it’s like expecting an artist to create a masterpiece without giving them any paint or paintbrushes to use on their canvas. Impossible, right?

What records should I send to my accountant?

This can vary depending on how and what you earn. If you’re unsure – don’t worry, you’re not alone! Your accountant will normally provide you with a guide, and then request any additional documents as needed, but we’ll go over some of the basic pointers below.

Personal information

Before getting down to the nitty-gritty of your accounts, you need to make sure your accountant has the correct and up-to-date info:

• Your National Insurance (NI) number
• Your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) number
• Details of any changes to things like address, marital status, dependents, etc

Employment income and Benefits in Kind

To complete your SA tax return, your accountant will need to know if you’ve earned any income through employment or as a director of your own company.

They’ll normally ask for your P45 (which you get at the end of an employment) or P60 (which is issued after the end of the tax year) so they can see the gross salary you received and any taxes you have already paid, as well as other deductions such as student loan repayments.

You will also need to let your accountant know about any Benefits in Kind (or BiKs) you received during the tax period being reported. Some common Benefits in Kind include a company car, private health insurance and a gym membership.

You can provide your accountant with this information by sharing your P11D form with them, or your payslips.

Information about your pension(s)

Your accountant will need to know about any income you receive from pensions as well as any payments you make into a pension scheme. The latter being so you can claim tax relief on it, which you certainly don’t want to miss out on!

• Workplace or private pension: All the information your accountant needs will be detailed on your P60, or a certificate of pension paid.
• State Pension: Give your accountant your State Pension notification letter.

Self-employment income

You will need to make your accountant aware of any income you’ve earned through being self-employed. For example, as a sole trader, your share of the profits as a partner in a partnership, or what you pay yourself as the director or shareholder of a limited company.

This is typically done by providing your accounts and bookkeeping, along with any documents relating to money you have received personally from the business – such as a dividend voucher showing how much was paid out.

Other types of income

If you generate income from any source, this will also need to be shared with your accountant so they can include it in your Self Assessment – even though this might not mean you need to pay tax on it!

Below are some examples of income you could be earning, and the documentation your accountant may require if you need to declare it on your SA return.

• Interest from banks and building societies – certificates of interest and tax deducted.
• Property-related income – For instance because you rent out a room or have a holiday let, Your accountant will need statements of income and expenditure.
• Gift Aid – the name of the charity as well as the amount in Gift Aid and the associated dates.
• Dividends from UK companies – dividend/distribution vouchers that show what was received, the date it was received and the tax credit.
• Qualifying loans and mortgages – lender’s statements showing the interest paid and the tax relief.
• Anything earned from trusts, settlements, Deeds of Covenant or estates – lender’s statements showing the interest paid and the tax relief.
• Pension contributions you have made – payment details and policy documentation.
• Overseas income – dividend vouchers.

Capital transactions

Your accountant will also need to know about anything relating to capital transactions, where applicable, in order to complete your Self Assessment.

Capital transactions are those that involve the purchase, sale or trade of long-term assets, liabilities or investments. The information you’ll need to share with your accountant includes:

• Disposal of a main residence if a proportion is used for business purposes
• Disposals where gains go over £3,000 (for the 2026/27 tax year)
• Capital losses to be claimed
• Share securities bought, sold or taken over
• Property disposals and/or acquisitions
• Any additional chargeable disposals worth more than £6,000

When is the best time to share information with my accountant?

As somebody who submits Self Assessments, you’ll be aware of the tax return deadline dates. It’s important to remember that these are the deadlines for final submission, not the dates you should be providing your accountant with information by!

Make sure you get everything to your accountant sooner rather than later, so they’ve got plenty of time to get your tax return done on time. You could even consider asking your accountant to let you know when they’d like to receive the information from you.

Accountants are clever people but they aren’t mind-readers, so they won’t necessarily know something about your financial situation if you don’t tell them.

The more accurate information they receive from you, the more stress-free and smooth your Self Assessment submission will be.

On the hunt for a new accountant? Compare accountancy packages to get started.

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The Self Assessment deadline, it’s that time of year again that all companies big or small dread. It’s no one’s favourite thing to spend time on when you’d rather be making plans for the business.

However, it is essential that it’s done, on time and accurately to avoid any penalties or investigations that will start the year off on a downer.

Who needs to send a tax return?

There are many reasons why you might have to send a tax return. You will need to send a tax return if you are self-employed, earn more than £2,500 in untaxed income, have an income from savings or investment of more than £10,000, have income from dividends of more than £10,000, have sold shares or have income from abroad.

For a full list of people who need to send a return to see if it applies to you, you can take a look here.

File on time

Some people just forget. It happens. Unfortunately, for something as important as the tax return, there is a penalty to pay for late submissions which is currently £100 if it’s under three months late. The penalty can go up if it’s submitted any later than that.

You’ve still got a few weeks to get everything in order and the sooner you do it the sooner you can get back to focusing on the business.

How to submit

If you’re new to the business world and this is your first Self Assessment deadline, it might seem a little daunting. However, as long as you leave yourself enough time to get all the information ready, it’ll be a huge weight lifted. Make sure you’ve got all your financial records and details of expenses to hand when you start your submission. You can start your online submissions here.

Making Tax Digital

While the annual tax return might be a business nightmare, the Government’s initiative to shift from annual to quarterly tax returns means that businesses are going to have to get used to the process on a regular basis.

Making Tax Digital (MTD) is rolling out, so now’s the time to make the process as streamlined as possible for your business so it’s not so much of a shock.

If you get used to managing your bookkeeping and invoicing online before the deadline, MTD will be less disruptive for your company. This could mean upgrading to cloud based accounting software like Pandle, which will make this transition a lot easier.

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Self-Assessment often becomes the most feared moment of the year for the self-employed. You do your bit, make sure you get the form submitted on time, just to be rewarded with an eye-wateringly large bill. It’s not exactly your favourite past-time.

Payment on account was actually designed to take the sting out of that moment. So we repeat – it’s actually there to help you. Plainly and simply, it’s a way of spreading the load from that initial eye-watering bill, and instead enabling you to pay in two instalments instead.

What is Payment on Account?

In a nutshell, it’s a way of splitting your self-assessment tax bill in to two halves. HMRC do this by looking at your tax bill for the previous year and calculating approximately half of your anticipated bill to pay – in advance. It’s kind of like a way of squirreling the pennies until they are needed.

Your first of the two payments will be due on 31^st January – the same day that you clear your tax bill from the year before. The second instalment is due six months later on 31^st July. It spreads the load (but yes, the cynic can also be forgiven for thinking it gives the Exchequer a handy little boost in the middle of each year).

How Much Will a Payment on Account Be?

As we said, it’s calculated on the previous year’s bill, as a forecast amount. Typically this means that each of the two instalments will be roughly 50% of the tax you are expected to be liable for.

Of course, it’s not an exact science, and self-employed people rarely make the same amount two months running, let alone two years. Therefore, there will always be some tallying up and balancing out to do. It’s worth noting that Payments on Account also include your anticipated Class 4 National Insurance Contributions.

When You Don’t Have Payment on Account

Not everyone has to pay their tax bill on account in this way. If your tax bill was small (less than £1000 after deductions) then you just pay in one instalment. Similarly, you won’t be required to pay on account if, in the last tax year, over 80% of tax due was deducted at source.

How Do I Find Out How Much I Owe?

Don’t worry – the HMRC are always going to let you know! You’ll either receive a letter detailing the amount following your tax return being processed, or you can simply log in to your online HMRC account.

You’ll also find that you’ve got some time on your hands. You don’t need to pay immediately, just make sure it’s by the 31^st July of the year in which the tax is due.

What if I Know My Tax Bill Will Be Less Next Year?

Good point. You don’t want to be handing over cash in anticipation of income you’re unlikely to make. This could apply for all manner of reasons such as an extended absence due to maternity leave, a sabbatical, you’ve lost a big customer or you’re winding down towards retirement.

If you know that you’ll be making less money over the coming tax year then you can apply to reduce the amount due on your payment on account. However – a word of caution – always err on the side of caution. If you get your forecasting wrong then the HMRC treat it as unpaid tax and you’ll be stung for interest. It might be more prudent to let them give you a rebate instead.

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