Who needs to file a tax return?

Most people in the UK do not need to file a tax return because any taxable income they have is taxed through a system called PAYE (paye as you earn).

However, there are a few situations where you’ll be required to complete a Self Assessment, also known as a personal tax return. Read more to find out what these situations are.

1. If you have any untaxed income

• You’re self-employed and earned more than £1,000
• You earn rental income over £1,000
• If you made over £3,000 in profit from investments – usually property or stocks; gains from shares in an ISA don’t count. You’ll have to use HMRC’s Real Time Capital Gains Tax Service if you sell property instead of filing a tax return
• You earned more than £10,000 from savings interest – also not from savings within a cash ISA
• You received more than £10,000 from dividends – also not from a stocks & shares ISA
• You’re earning foreign income
• You have any other sort of untaxed income more than £1,000

2. You want to claim a tax refund

In some cases, you may have to submit a tax return to claim a refund if you’ve paid too much income tax. Here are some examples:

• You work in the construction industry through the CIS scheme
• You’ve made investments in SEIS or EIS eligible startups or VCT funds
• You’ve made donations to charity
• You made private pension contributions as a higher rate taxpayer
• You had work expenses over £1,000

3. HMRC tells you to submit one

Sometimes HMRC may decide you need to file a tax return. They’ll usually let you know by:

• Sending you a P800 form
• Sending you a notice to file a tax return

This could be for any reason, but some of the most common reasons are:

• You didn’t de-register from self assessment so HMRC are still expecting a tax return from you
• You’ve paid too little tax 
• You have any untaxed income that cannot be collected through PAYE

4. You qualify for benefits

In some cases, you may have to file a Self Assessment tax return if you quality for benefits, i.e:

• You need to prove you’re self-employed to claim Maternity Allowance or Tax-Free Childcare

5. Other situations

• You live abroad and had income from the UK
• You claimed Child Benefit and your or your partner’s income was over £60,000 (this is called high income child benefit charge)
• You’re in a partnership
• You are a minister of any religion
• You are a trustee

You’re a ’name’ at the Lloyd’s of London

I’m a director of a limited company – do I still need to file a personal tax return?

In this case, you’ll only need to complete a tax return if you paid yourself dividends over £10,000. Otherwise, you’re no longer required to file a personal tax return.

However, you still need to make sure that your company submits a corporate tax return.