Self-employment
Work for yourself, even alongside a job: gross income over £1,000 a year.
Employees · Directors · Landlords · Investors · Sole traders
Self Assessment for all your income, not just self-employment
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Foreign income, rental property, shares, crypto, the sale of a home: many people do not realise they must report it. We tell you whether you need to file, register you, prepare your return and help you pay the right tax on time.
£120Consultation
£150Returns from
Prices include VAT
More than a tax return for sole traders
Income that often needs a Self Assessment
Self Assessment reports all your taxable income to HMRC. It is not only for the self-employed, and many people find out too late that they should have filed.
Rental property
Letting a flat, a house or a room, in the UK or abroad.
Foreign income and assets
Salary, rent, pensions, interest or investments from another country.
Shares, dividends and bonds
Dividends over the allowance, and gains when you sell investments.
Cryptocurrency
Selling, swapping or spending crypto can create a taxable gain.
Selling property or valuable assets
A second home, land, or an asset you were given and later sold.
Quick check: do I need to file?
Tick everything that applied to you in the last tax year.
General guidance only. Thresholds and exemptions depend on your full circumstances; our consultation gives you a definite answer.
Missed a year, or three?
It is not too late to put it right
If you have just realised you should have registered two or three years ago, you can still come forward. HMRC accepts late registrations and returns for past years, and coming forward yourself is always better than waiting to be found.
- 1We register you through our practice, even for past years.
- 2We prepare the missed returns with every allowance and expense you are entitled to.
- 3We explain your situation to HMRC and work to keep penalties and interest as low as possible.
Choose how much help you want
Advice, learn it yourself, or let us file
Most people start with a consultation. Some then file themselves with our course; most prefer us to do it, and come back every year.
Consultation
£120 · about an hour
- Every type of income you have, reviewed
- Whether you must register and file, and the limits that may exempt you
- What is actually taxed, after costs and allowances
- How to keep records and support your expenses
- Free video guides to follow afterwards
Learn to do it yourself
Course £60
- Register, keep records, complete and file your return
- Close your registration when you stop
- Watch each lesson as many times as you need
- One-to-one software lessons for students: £60 a lesson
We file it for you
Returns from £150
- Registration with HMRC and help setting up your own HMRC online account
- Income and expense journal and mileage log, with instructions
- Return prepared, tax calculated and sent to you to approve
- Filed, with the tax and the date to pay it, and a reminder
How it works
From your first question to tax paid on time
You know what is happening at every stage, and nothing is sent to HMRC until you have agreed it.
- 1
Consultation
We look at all your income and tell you whether, and how, you need to report it.
- 2
Registration
We register you with HMRC through our practice and help you open your own HMRC online account.
- 3
During the year
You record income and costs in our journals and keep the documents that support your expenses.
- 4
Your return
We check every expense, apply your allowances and calculate the tax.
- 5
You approve
We send you the return to check and sign. Seen a different figure? We go through it together.
- 6
File and pay
We file, tell you the tax and the deadline, help you pay by remote session if needed, and remind you.
Fixed prices, including VAT
Work out the price of your return
Choose the type of return, then add any other income. The price is fixed before we start.
Income below your personal allowance? Claiming the £1,000 trading allowance instead of actual expenses is often simpler, and the return costs less.
Your fixed price, including VAT
£150
An estimate from your answers. Your accountant confirms the exact price before we start, once we have seen your documents.
Book my returnNot sure which applies? Start with a consultation (£120).
Annual return or Making Tax Digital?
Over the threshold, you report every quarter
Sole traders and landlords above the Making Tax Digital threshold must keep digital records and report quarterly. An annual return is then no longer enough: you need ongoing bookkeeping.
From 6 April 2026over £50,000Based on your 2024–25 income
From 6 April 2027over £30,000Based on your 2025–26 income
From 6 April 2028over £20,000Planned
Below the threshold, or just starting with no return filed yet? You stay on an annual return. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
Questions
Self Assessment questions
Scroll over them, use the arrows or select a question.
Often not, but you do if you have other income on top of your salary: rental income, foreign income, dividends over the dividend allowance, capital gains above the annual exempt amount, crypto disposals or self-employment. Our consultation tells you for certain.
Register by 5 October after the end of the tax year in which you first had the income. File your online return and pay the tax by 31 January. If you pay through payments on account, the second one is due by 31 July.
You can still put it right. We register you, prepare the returns for the missed years and explain your situation to HMRC. Penalties and interest may apply where tax was due, but they are usually lower when you come forward before HMRC contacts you, and we work to keep them as low as possible.
No. Capital gains tax is charged on the gain: the sale price less what you paid and allowable costs such as legal fees and improvements. If you sell UK residential property and tax is due, it must be reported and paid within 60 days of completion, and the gain also goes on your Self Assessment return.
Yes. Landlords can deduct allowable costs from rental income, and investors can deduct costs of buying and selling. If your income is small, claiming the £1,000 trading or property allowance instead of actual expenses can be simpler, and your return then costs less.
From April 2026, sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000 report quarterly under Making Tax Digital. The threshold falls to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028, based on the income in an earlier return. Below the threshold, and in your first year of trading, you file an annual return.
Yes. Our £60 course for the self-employed shows you how to register, keep records, complete and file your return and close your registration. Course students can book one-to-one lessons on the software at £60 a lesson.
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Deadlines and thresholds as published by HMRC; check current guidance on GOV.UK.
Not sure where you stand?
Book a consultation
In about an hour you will know whether you need to file, what is taxed and what it will cost.
Guides
Read before you decide
Plain-English guides by our accountants on the questions clients ask us about this service.
Self AssessmentSelling a rental property: Capital Gains Tax and the 60-day deadline
Read the guide →
Self AssessmentForeign income and assets abroad: what to declare on your tax return
Read the guide →
E-commerceMarketplaces now report your sales to HMRC. What online sellers need to do
Read the guide →
Directors