With the start of a new tax year just around the corner, it’s a good idea to start getting your finances in order so that you don’t have a last-minute panic.

Last year over 11.5 million taxpayers submitted their tax returns to HMRC on time, with 300,000 in the first week and 732,498 submitting it on the deadline day. 31,442 deadline day submissions were submitted in the final hour, between 23:00 and 23:59! An estimated 1.1 million people missed the deadline altogether, risking a £100 late filing penalty and 97.36% of tax returns were submitted online.

According to a ‘YouGov’, survey, 34% of respondents who had filed a tax return before, said the thing they disliked most was worrying about making a mistake, followed closely by 28% worrying about understanding tax rules, and 19% worried about the deadline.

But it really doesn’t need to be this difficult, particularly if you keep your finances up-to-date throughout the year. Our team supports thousands of freelancers and small businessowners to manage their accountancy online, including their Self-Assessment Tax Return.

Here we explain more about what’s involved.

Who needs to complete a Self-Assessment?

You will normally need to complete a self-assessment if you are self-employed or a director / shareholder of a limited company. We can register you for self-assessment and prepare and submit your tax return on your behalf. This ensures everything is done correctly and makes life easier for you. With a dedicated accountant by your side, all you have to do is pay your tax bill using the verification HMRC sends when they confirm receipt of your tax return.

What to include in a tax return?

To complete your tax return, it is necessary to document all your income sources over the year. If you are a company director and your only income is a salary from your business, that’s what should be recorded on the tax return.

If you’ve received dividend payments or income from other investments and shares, or an asset such as a rental property, this will need to be detailed too, as will any pension contributions, state benefits and capital gains (such as a property you’ve inherited and disposed of) and lumpsums such as redundancy payments.

How is tax calculated?

The amount of income tax you must pay is based on types of earnings you have, above the personal allowance of £12,570 for the year ended on 5th April 2025 and 5th April 2026. Your employment income is then taxed according to which ‘Band’ it falls in to.

From 6th April 2025, all of the tax bands will remain the same as last year:

Your Personal Allowance goes down by £1 for every £2 that your adjusted net income is above £100,000. This means your allowance is zero if your income is £125,140 or above.

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Dividends

Dividends are taxed at a separate rate to earned income (employment and self-employment income).

The following rates for tax on dividends apply up to 5th April 2026

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Deadlines and penalties

Below are the deadlines for registering for, submitting and paying your Self-Assessment Tax Return for the year ended on 5th April 2025. If you’re late, HMRC will impose an automatic late filing penalty of £100, plus potentially other charges and interest, depending on when it is submitted.

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Other Key Dates

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You will need to submit your online return by 30th December 2025, if you want to request HMRC to automatically collect any tax from your wages or pension.

Last year, a total of 40,072 people submitted their tax returns between 24th and 26th December 2024, with 4,400 taxpayers filing on Christmas day! We’re sure you’ll agree that it’s much better to be organised in advance so that you can forget about taxes into the summer months, before it you even get to the festive period.

The penalties for filing a tax return late are:

• £100 fixed penalty for late submission, even if there is no tax to pay, or if the tax due is paid on time
• after 3 months, additional daily penalties of £10 per day, up to a maximum of £900
• after 6 months, a further penalty of 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater
• after 12 months, another 5% or £300 charge, whichever is greater

There are also additional penalties for paying late - 5% of the tax unpaid at 30 days, 6 months and 12 months. Interest will also be charged on any tax paid late.

For more information on any aspect of limited company accountancy or help with preparing your tax return, please get in touch.

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