Income Tax Return

The value of the tax you need to pay depends on the Income Tax you are in, but the deadline is the same for everybody – 31 January if you file online. Allow up to 20 working days of extra time if you didn’t send the online return last year because you will first have to register. The tax year is calculated from 6 April to 5 April the following year.

You will have to send a tax return:

• To deduct allowable expense, if in the last tax year you have been self-employed.
• In the last tax year you got £2,500 or more in untaxed income.
• Your savings or investment income from the last tax year was £10,000 or more before tax.
• If you need to pay Capital Gains Tax because in the last tax year you made profits from selling things like shares, a second home or other chargeable assets.
• You are a company director and in the last tax year you have not received any pay or benefits (unless it was in a non-profit organisation).
• In the last tax year your income or your partner’s income was over £50,000 and you claimed Child Benefits.
• You have received income from abroad in the last tax year and you needed to pay tax on it.
• You lived abroad in the last tax year and you had a UK income.
• You have received dividends from shares and you are a higher or additional rate taxpayer
• You had an income of over £100,000 in the last tax year.
• You have been a trustee of a trust or registered pension scheme in the last tax year.

Other categories of people may need to send a return such as religious ministers or Lloyd’s underwriters, but usually if your only income is from your wages or pension you won’t need to.