Self-employed, high earner or parent with income of £50,000+? Don't miss the 31 January self-assessment tax return deadline

You have until 11.59pm on Friday 31 January 2025 to send HMRC an online tax return for the 2023/2024 tax year, which ended on 5 April 2024. The same deadline also applies to those who need to make payments towards their tax bill.

You must act soon as those who miss the deadlines face fines of at least £100 – plus 7.25% interest on any late tax payments.

As of Thursday 16 January, some 4.3 million people were yet to file their tax return, while 7.6 million returns had already been submitted, according to the latest available figures from HMRC.

Self-employed workers, high earners and some parents need to file self-assessment tax returns

Most UK taxpayers have their taxes deducted automatically from their wages, pensions or savings, and won't need to file a tax return. But tax returns are due from individuals or businesses that haven't had tax automatically deducted, or that have earned extra untaxed income.

You may need to submit a tax return if ANY of the following applied to you in the 2023/2024 tax year (6 April 2023 to 5 April 2024):

• You were self-employed and your income was more than £1,000. If you earned £1,000 or less, you may still need to do a self-assessment if you want to pay 'class 2' National Insurance contributions voluntarily to protect your entitlement to the state pension and certain benefits.

• You earned more than £150,000 in taxable income. This threshold was £100,000 for the 2022/23 tax year but it's been increased. If your income is between £100,000 and £150,000 and that was the only reason you had to complete a tax return for 2022/23, you should have got a letter from HRMC telling you that you don't need to do one for 2023/24. If in doubt, contact HMRC directly to check.

• You claimed Child Benefit when you or your partner earned more than £50,000 a year. This is known as the high income Child Benefit charge. Following our successful campaign, the income threshold has now been raised to £60,000 – but the older threshold still applies for the 2023/24 tax year.

• You earned £10,000 or more before tax from savings interest, investments, shares or dividends. Between April 2022 and April 2024, the Bank of England base rate rose from 0.75% to 5.25%. As a result, savings rates (and therefore interest payments) went up across the board – so, even if you had the same amount saved, you're more likely to have hit the threshold in 2023/24 compared to the year before.

• You earned money from renting out property or from other untaxed income, such as tips or commission.

• You earned income from abroad.

• You need to pay Capital Gains Tax.

• You received income from a trust.

• You filed a self-assessment tax return for the 2022/23 tax year (unless you've already told HMRC you no longer need to or HMRC has told you not to).

If in doubt, use the Government's free tool to check whether you need to file a tax return.

Sell on Vinted, Etsy or eBay or rent out your home on Airbnb? Check if you need to file a tax return

As of January 2024, so-called "digital platforms" now have to collect extra information about sellers, including how many sales they've made and how much income they've generated.

Online platforms will start automatically sharing this information with HMRC by the end of this month. As this first lot of data-sharing covers part of the 2023/24 tax year, it's worth checking whether you might owe any tax for this period.

As a general rule of thumb, if you earn less than £1,000 from selling goods or services online, you probably don't need to register for self-assessment or pay any tax. If you're close to this limit (or above it), you can use HMRC's online tool to check what you need to do.

It's important to note that there isn't a new 'online selling' tax – the rules around who pays tax on earnings made from digital platforms haven't changed. If you didn't owe any tax on these earnings before, and you continue to use these platforms in the same way, you won't have to start paying tax on them now.

You should have registered for self-assessment by 5 October 2024

Anyone new to self-assessment needs to register with HMRC and get a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) first. The deadline to do this was technically 5 October 2024 – so if you haven't already, it's crucial you register as soon as possible.

On Friday 17 January, HMRC told us "it is still possible to register for self-assessment and file before the 31 January deadline", but it recommended doing so online.

If it's been a while since you sent off your registration request and you haven't gotten your UTR in the post, check the HMRC app or your online HMRC account – you may be able to see it there sooner.

If it's your first time filing online but you already have a UTR – for example, because you've previously filed a paper return – you should be able to skip this step and just register for the online service.

You've missed the deadline for filing a paper return

The deadline for filing paper returns for the 2023/24 tax year was 31 October 2024 – so you must now file your return online to avoid paying a penalty. If you were to file a paper return now you would be fined.

Miss the deadline to file and you face a £100 fine – plus extra penalties and interest

Here's how it works:

There are also extra penalties for paying the tax late as set out below.

Pay any tax you're likely to owe to avoid 7.25% interest charges

You also need to pay any tax you owe for the 2023/24 tax year (known as a balancing payment) and make your first payment on account for the 2024/25 tax year by 11.59pm on 31 January 2025.

Miss this deadline and you'll have to pay an annual interest charge of 7.25% of the amount owed. This interest will accrue daily, starting immediately on 1 February. After 30 days you'll then also be fined an extra 5% of the unpaid tax on top. This late fee is then repeated at six months and 12 months.

Making a payment towards your tax bill now should prevent these fees and charges (unless your bill is higher than expected once it comes in).

You can pay by bank transfer, debit card or cheque. You can also pay at your bank or building society if you have a paying-in slip from HMRC.

Even if you pay the tax on time, you will still have to pay a penalty of at least £100 if you file the return late. The Government provides an online tool for calculating how much you'll need to pay in penalties and interest if you miss the deadlines.

Speak to HMRC urgently if you can't afford to pay the tax due

If your bill is correct but you find you can't afford it, contact HMRC as soon as possible as you may be able to avoid late payment penalties by coming to an arrangement to spread your payments over a period of time.

If you don't agree a payment plan in advance and miss the deadline, you'll be charged a penalty – unless you had a reasonable excuse for not paying your tax on time. This is usually something unexpected or outside of your control that stopped you meeting your tax obligation (for example: serious illness, bereavement, fire, flood, and so on).

You can contact HMRC directly for more info

The Government provides help sheets and video guidance on submitting your tax return. You can also try joining one of HMRC's live webinars, where you'll be able to ask questions (if you can't join live, you can watch back previous webinars).

You can also try HMRC's digital assistant, which can help you find the information you need or connect you with an adviser for a live online chat.

If you'd prefer to speak to someone on the phone, you can call HMRC's helpline on 0300 200 3310. It's open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. It's closed on weekends and bank holidays.

You can also get general help from HMRC customer support on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).