Self assessment tax returns in Woking and Surrey
Quarterly digital reporting has already begun for sole traders and landlords. For a lot of people, the once-a-year tax return is no longer how this works.
Here are the dates that matter, and the two things almost everyone gets wrong about the new rules.
The dates for the 2025/26 tax year
| What | When |
|---|---|
| Paper return | 31 October 2026 |
| Online return | 31 January 2027 |
| Balancing payment and first payment on account | 31 January 2027 |
| Second payment on account | 31 July 2027 |
| File online to collect tax through your PAYE code | 30 December 2026 |
| Register for self assessment | 5 October following the tax year |
Payments on account are required unless your last bill was under £1,000, or more than 80% of your tax was collected at source. Each one is half the previous year's liability — and the July one catches almost everybody out in their first year, because it arrives six months after they thought they had paid.
Making Tax Digital is no longer a future problem
If you are a sole trader or landlord, this has already started.
| Gross income from self-employment and property | Mandatory from |
|---|---|
| Over £50,000 | Already live — 6 April 2026 |
| Over £30,000 | 6 April 2027 |
| Over £20,000 | 6 April 2028 |
HMRC has also begun signing people up automatically where its records show they qualify, writing to them afterwards.
The two things people get wrong
It is gross income, not profit
The test is turnover before any expenses — and self-employment and property income are added together. Someone with £30,000 of rent and £25,000 of freelance work is well inside it, even if their profit is modest.
It is no longer one return a year
Four quarterly updates plus a final declaration, filed through compatible software. The quarterly updates are cumulative, so an error in one corrects itself in the next.
The dividend rates went up this April
If you take dividends from your own company, the rates changed on 6 April 2026. The basic rate went from 8.75% to 10.75% and the higher rate from 33.75% to 35.75%. The additional rate is unchanged at 39.35%, and the dividend allowance is still £500.
For most owner-directors that makes the salary and dividend split worth revisiting rather than repeating last year's. Income tax thresholds are also frozen until April 2031, so more of the same income drifts into higher bands each year.
Who needs to file
Company directors
Where income is not fully taxed at source — which includes almost anyone taking dividends.
Sole traders
Anyone self-employed, whatever the level of profit, once registered.
Landlords
Property income above £1,000 gross, before expenses.
Investors
Dividends, savings interest or capital gains above the allowances.
Higher earners
Over £100,000, where the personal allowance starts tapering away at £1 for every £2.
Anyone HMRC has written to
If a notice to file has been issued, the obligation exists whether or not you owe anything.
Schedule a 20 min Free Review with me.
I offer a review, not a sales call — which may or may not lead anywhere. Most people come away with two or three things worth far more than twenty minutes.
What we cover
- 01Whether Making Tax Digital applies to you, and when
- 02Your payments on account, explained before they land
- 03Whether your salary and dividend split still makes sense