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This information applies to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
If you are working for an employer who is taking PAYE (pay as you earn) tax and national insurance from your regular wages, and you do not have any other income, you do not usually need to complete a tax return form.
You will need to fill in a self-assessment form if you are self-employed, a company director or a partner in a business.
If you are a personal representative or a trustee you will have to complete a tax return for the person or trust you are representing.
By law everyone needs to keep records of their income, gains and expenditures so that they can complete a tax return if they get one. If HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) suspects you may have income which needs to be taxed under self-assessment, it will send you a tax return to complete. However, it is your responsibility to ask for a tax return if you think you have income which needs to be taxed under self-assessment. The self-assessment form has a main section for everyone and supplementary pages depending on what type of income you have. There is also be a guide to help you complete the tax return.
You, your accountant or your tax advisor can fill in the form, but you should personally check that everything on it is correct. The form can be sent to your tax office by post or you can send it electronically.
If you complete your tax return online, you must do this by no later than 31 January following the end of the tax year. HMRC will automatically calculate how much tax you owe or are owed.
If you fill in your tax return on paper, you must send it back to HMRC by no later than 31 October following the end of the tax year. You can choose whether you want HMRC to calculate your tax for you or whether to calculate it yourself.
If you don't stick to these deadlines, you will be charged a penalty.
For more information about self- assessment and tax returns, see Self assessment - your guide.
For more information about PAYE, see The pay as you earn (PAYE) system.
For more information about self assessment, see Self assessment - a general guide to keeping records.
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