Self-Evaluation Tax Return For 2025 

New yr, new taxes.

Now that we’ve taken down the Christmas decorations and popped the champagne to have fun the arrival of 2025, it’s time to deal with one thing rather less festive however simply as essential – your Self-Evaluation Tax Return.

Whereas that is usually required in the event you’re self-employed, new legal guidelines launched final yr imply that extra individuals could be liable to submit one. When you’ve taken on a facet hustle, earned revenue from renting out property or acquired untaxed revenue from investments, it’s possible you’ll must file a return – even in the event you’ve by no means needed to earlier than.

We’ll break down every part you could know – from understanding what counts as taxable revenue to learn how to submit your tax return so that you could keep on HMRC’s good facet.

What’s a Self-Evaluation Tax Return?

A Self-Evaluation Tax Return is a method to declare revenue and any tax you owe to HMRC. That is particularly essential in the event you’re a sole dealer or freelancer, as there’s no employer to mechanically deduct your tax by way of the PAYE (Pay As You Earn) scheme. Due to this fact, it’s as much as you to report your earnings and pay the correct quantity of tax.

The deadline to submit your Self-Evaluation Tax Return is January thirty first. Nevertheless, in the event you miss this deadline, you’ll should pay a late penalty of £100 in case your tax return is as much as 3 months late. The penalties solely get steeper the longer you delay. After 6 months, it’s possible you’ll face an extra high quality, and after 12 months, you could be hit with even larger costs.

Submitting on time can also be essential in the event you owe revenue tax, as HMRC will begin charging curiosity on any unpaid tax after the deadline has handed. 

What’s the Facet Hustle Tax?

Facet hustles have grow to be a go-to approach for individuals to spice up their revenue alongside their fundamental job. In any case, 43% of UK adults began a facet hustle in 2024, with 65% of Millennials and Gen Z plan to proceed them in 2025.

Nevertheless, in the event you run a facet hustle your self, you’ll be liable to pay a Self-Evaluation Tax Return in the event you earn £1,000 or extra in a yr – in any other case referred to as the Facet Hustle Tax. Even in the event you don’t meet this threshold, you should still must register for Self-Evaluation in case you do attain this quantity.

So why was this launched? 

The Facet Hustle Tax isn’t an official tax, however paying taxes on earnings is required by HMRC to make sure that untaxed revenue from facet hustles is correctly reported and taxed below present legal guidelines. 

The rise within the gig financial system, corresponding to by way of platforms like Etsy, Uber and Airbnb, has created new alternatives for incomes additional revenue, but it surely has additionally led to important quantities of untaxed earnings. This is named a “tax hole”, and with extra individuals being profitable by way of facet hustles and never at all times reporting it, this hole has grown. So to deal with this, HMRC is ensuring that facet hustle revenue will get declared and taxed correctly so that everybody contributes pretty.

Do I must submit a Self-Evaluation Tax Return?

Unsure whether or not you could submit a Self-Evaluation or not? You’ll be liable if:

• You’re self-employed as a sole dealer, freelancer or contractor
• You might have further untaxed revenue, corresponding to rental revenue, facet hustle earnings over £1,000 or funding revenue
• You needed to pay capital positive aspects tax once you offered one thing that elevated in worth
• You’re an organization director
• When you earn over £60,000 for the 2024-2025 tax yr and should pay the Excessive Revenue Baby Profit Cost.

When you’re nonetheless feeling caught, we suggest looking for skilled recommendation from an accountant. They’ll be capable to let you know in the event you’re answerable for Self-Evaluation by assessing your particular monetary scenario, reviewing your sources of revenue and figuring out whether or not you could file a tax return primarily based in your circumstances.

Learn how to submit a Self-Evaluation Tax Return

A Self-Evaluation Tax Return can both be filed on-line or by way of a SA100 type, which you’ll be able to obtain from the authorities web site. Alternatively, you possibly can request one by contacting HMRC instantly in the event you don’t have web entry.

To submit your Self-Evaluation Tax Return on-line, merely:

• Go to the Self-Evaluation sign-in web page and enter your Authorities Gateway Person ID
• Click on the choice to finish your Self-Evaluation Tax Return and choose “Begin Now”
• Enter your private data (together with your title, Distinctive Taxpayer Reference (UTR) and date of delivery
• Enter particulars about your revenue, bills and some other related data. 
• Submit the return on-line by way of HMRC’s portal

For a extra detailed clarification, try our information on submitting tax returns, which is able to stroll you thru every step and make sure you’re masking all of the necessities. We additionally suggest that you simply discuss with a tax skilled to get private recommendation, particularly round any new regulation modifications and the way they may have an effect on facet hustle companies or individuals with different further revenue.