Landlords – Time to Think About Self Assessment

Self Assessment is an annual event for millions who must complete a tax return.

If you’re a landlord with income from property between 6 April 2021 and 5 April 2022, you must file your tax return and pay any due by 31 January 2023. 

So, whether you’re a new landlord or have been completing your tax return for many years, if you haven’t started it yet, what are you waiting for? 

Preparing your paperwork now and getting organised can help avoid the unnecessary stress of leaving it until the last minute. You don’t want to get caught out with unexpected emergencies or rush, possibly miss the deadline, or risk a penalty.

Thousands of people chose to get ahead of the game this year – almost 66,500 taxpayers submitted their tax return on 6 April 2022, the first day they could - giving them plenty of time to budget before the payment deadline.

The easiest way to complete your tax return is online through your Personal Tax Account. You can do it at a time that works best for you. You can work around your busy schedule and your business or work commitments by saving your progress in stages and coming back to it again and again if you need to.

You must register with HMRC via GOV if this is your first time completing a tax return.UK to receive your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) and activate your account.  

Once you are ready to start your tax return, you’ll be able to access guidance to help you to understand your tax obligations, such as record keeping, filing and payments deadlines, and to get an idea of how much you may have to pay and when to make your first tax payment to HMRC. Sometimes payments on account are due, and you can find out more about that by searching ‘payments on account’ on GOV.UK. 

The sooner you submit your tax return, the more time you have to plan and make financial arrangements for any tax you need to pay. You still have until 31 January 2023 to pay your tax, and if you are due a repayment, you will be able to claim that back sooner. 

Filing early also means you can access a full range of payment options to find the one that suits you best, such as making payments through the HMRC app. It’s simple, convenient, fast and fully secure. To download the free HMRC app, you can visit the App Store from your iPhone or Google Play for Android and follow the download and set up instructions.

For those unable to pay their tax bill in full, make sure you access the support and advice available to you. HMRC can help by arranging an affordable payment plan. Visit GOV.UK and search ‘time to pay’.

If you’re a landlord who has sold a property during the 2021 to 2022 tax year, you will also need to consider whether a Capital Gains Tax submission is required. Go to GOV.UK to find out more.   

To find out more, visit Self Assessment on GOV.UK.