Most people in the UK pay all their tax ‘at source’, for example, through Pay As You Earn (PAYE) if they are employed, and are not required to file a tax return. Self Assessment therefore does not affect everyone and you will normally only need to complete a form if one or more of the following apply to you:

• You are working for yourself – you are self employed

• You are a partner in a partnership business;

• You are a minister of religion – any faith or denomination;

• You are a trustee or the executor of an estate.

You also might need to complete a Self Assessment tax return if:

• You are a company director, if you have income that is not taxed under PAYE;

• You have untaxed income. This could be, for example, interest that is not taxed before it is paid to you or rental income. If you are an employee or a pensioner and the income (profit) is less than £2,500 a year you might not have to complete a tax return but it is still your responsibility to report such income by contacting HMRC. If you receive other untaxed income and the tax due on it cannot be collected via your PAYE coding notice you will need to complete a tax return;

• You receive regular annual income from a trust or settlement, or you receive income from the estate of a deceased person and further tax is due;

• You have foreign income on which UK tax is due (although there is an exclusion if your foreign income consists solely of dividends which will be covered by the dividend allowance).

• You are non-resident and you have taxable income in the UK. This includes non-UK resident landlords. You can find out more on GOV.UK;

• You have income from savings and investments of £10,000 or more before tax;

• You have annual income of £100,000 or more before tax;

• You or your partner receive child benefit and your adjusted net income is over £50,000. This is because of the high income child benefit charge;

• You are liable to certain other tax charges, such as on ‘excess’ Gift Aid contributions or pension contributions;

• You are liable to tax on a state pension lump sum which you deferred from before 6 April 2016;

• You incorrectly claimed coronavirus support payments which you have not already repaid to HMRC;

• You have tax due at the end of the year that cannot be collected via your PAYE coding notice in a later year;

• Your untaxed income is £2,500 or more – but if you are a pensioner you may be able to pay your tax through your PAYE Coding Notice;

• Your claims for expenses are £2,500 or more;

• You have capital gains where:

  • You have given away or sold assets worth £50,000 or more for 2023/24; or

  • You have a capital loss but your gains net of any losses are more than the annual exemption for 2023/24 of £6,000; or

  • You have no losses to claim but your gains are more than the annual exempt amount for 2023/24 of £6,000; or

  • You need to make any other capital gains tax claim or election for the year.