Do I need to pay tax for this year?

Ragtimeplayer

I started my own business on the 16th of April 2015 and I am a little confused as to when I need to file a tax return.

Is it for this year 31st January 2016 or do I have until next January to file it?

booksurr

the tax year runs from 6th April to 5th April

you therefore started in 15/16 so would file by 31 Jan 2017, although of course you can file any time after about May 2016 if you have registered for SA by then as that's about when HMRC starts to sent out the notice to file for the tax year just ended

TheCyclingProgrammer

If you are self employed then you should have registered as such with HMRC when you started your business and should also be registered for self assessment as a result. As booksurr says your first SA won't be due until next Jan for the current tax year and you should receive a notice to file a return some time after April this year.

If you started a Ltd company then legally you don't have any requirement to notify HMRC of this (even though they state on their website that company directors should register for self assessment this has no legal basis).

If all of your earnings from your business are paid as a salary through PAYE and you have no untaxed income then I'd also suggest you still have no legal requirement to notify HMRC but if you do have any untaxed income (eg dividends) that needs to be reported then you have 9 months from the end of the current tax year to notify HMRC and register for self assessment although there's nothing stopping you from doing that now.

cavegrrl

You have from the end of the tax year until Jan 31st to file online for the year you just completed, so you will have from April 2016 - January 2017 to file your return for April 2015 - April 2016. Pretty sure you don't have to wait for the notice to do it - I think I've been organised one year and completed it in April.

If you're not registered for online self-assessment & want to do that, you can register any time - better sooner than later as they will need to send you a gov. gateway id in the post, if you don't already have one. It's a pain if you set out time to do your first online assessment and then realise you have to wait to receive it!

Innys1

Is the OP self employed or do they own a Ltd Co?

polymaff

Ragtimeplayer wrote: »

I started my own business on the 16th of April 2015 and I am a little confused as to when I need to file a tax return.

Is it for this year 31st January 2016 or do I have until next January to file it?

Your business will have its own end-of-year, presumably every 16th of April. As part of your own personal Income Tax return you will fill in the self-employment pages using the end-of-year results for the 16th of April which falls in the tax year to which the tax return applies. For instance, the personal return for 6th April 2020 to 5th April 2021 will use the results from the business year ending 16th April 2020. The filing timetable is not altered by self-employment(s).

None of the above applies to Limited Companies, which are independent entities paying Corporation, not Income, Tax on their profits.

kidmugsy

You can run your company with its opening financial year lasting 18 months if you like. What does your accountant say?