Acquiring an SA302.

ZIgo123

Hi there, 
I hope I'm posting in the right part of the forum! 
My partner and I are currently looking to apply for a mortgage and our advisor has advised us to get SA302s to provide to the mortgage company when we do make an offer. This is fairly straightforward for me as I submit an annual tax return. My partner, however, does not. For 2018-2019 he was an employee and not required to submit one. For 2019-2020 he has been self employed, but we will be able to file this fine as the tax return period doesn't close until January 2021. 
My question is, does he need to file a tax return for 18-19 tax year in order to acquire an SA302 that covers that year? We looked into this and we're not sure how to do it, but it seems that he may have to pay a fine? I'm not sure why as he is not required to submit a return in the first place. He does not and will not owe any tax on his 2018-2019 earnings either. 

Is anyone able to provide any guidance on how to get an SA302 in this case or submit a tax return for 18-19? Had we known that he'd need this document we would have done it straight away but we've only just found out! And is a fine only payable for those who are required to submit a tax return but do not? It seems unfair we would have to pay hundreds of pounds for a piece of paper from HMRC!

Many thanks for any help/suggesions ME-ers. 

whizzywoo

You only have to submit a tax return if one has been issued.

You used to be able to get an SA302 by ringing up and asking for one. One can be issued even though no tax return has been submitted. 

Not sure how easy it will be to ring HMRC at the moment though 🤔

Jeremy535897

You only need a SA302 if you are seeking to prove your income from self employment. As he didn't have any self employment income for 2018/19, a SA302 would have no use to a mortgage lender for that year. If he is no longer employed, as seems to be the case, he may be well advised to submit his 2019/20 return sooner rather than later, as would you.

Pennywise

You don't have to wait until 31 January to submit the 19/20 tax return.  You can do it today.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

whizzywoo said:

You only have to submit a tax return if one has been issued.

You used to be able to get an SA302 by ringing up and asking for one. One can be issued even though no tax return has been submitted. 

Not sure how easy it will be to ring HMRC at the moment though 🤔

Given that an SA302 is a calculation reflecting the details filed on a Self Assessment return there is no way you can get one without having filed a return for the tax year in question.

whizzywoo

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

whizzywoo said:

You only have to submit a tax return if one has been issued.

You used to be able to get an SA302 by ringing up and asking for one. One can be issued even though no tax return has been submitted. 

Not sure how easy it will be to ring HMRC at the moment though 🤔

Given that an SA302 is a calculation reflecting the details filed on a Self Assessment return there is no way you can get one without having filed a return for the tax year in question.

Sorry my mistake.  I wasn't thinking straight- senior moment.  😏

sheramber

  You could file the 2019/20 tax return as soon as the returns were available   after 6 April 2020.
If you do it early you know what tax you ned to pay in January 21 and have time to save it up, if necessary.
For 2018/19 he needs his P60  which will show his income for that year

ZIgo123

Thanks all. My partner has P60s so we will ring up and ask for an SA302, assuming one can be provided in that case. One poster has mentioned SA302 is only an option if you've done tax returns, another says you can get one without submitting tax returns. 

Just to note, my partner has never been issued by HMRC to complete a tax return.  It seems the mortgage advisor things a P60 isn't adequate and we also need the SA302. 
And yes we'll do the 19-20 tax return ASAP since assessment is now open. 

I appreciate all the help. 

Jeremy535897

I have heard this. I have no idea why mortgage advisers think you need to file a voluntary self assessment to get a SA302 calculation, when all it will show is the P60 figure presumably. Tick box gone mad.

Speedbird676

The standard requirement for a self-employed person to prove their income for a mortgage application is 2-years of self assessment tax returns, ie: your SA302 or Tax Computation certified by an account.

In your case this is complicated by your partner having been self employed in 2019-20 but employed in 2018-19. It should be possible for your mortgage broker to submit a P60 for 2018-19 if all the income you're using for that period is from employment.

ZIgo123

Thanks Speedbird. My partner is currently both employed and self employed, so while he will for 19-20 submit a tax return, he will also have a P60 for his employment earnings during this last tax year (apologies for any confusion). So based on that and the previous year, you'd think that's enough to go with for a mortgage (i.e. 2 years of P60s). His self-employment earnings will have little effect on the amount of money we can borrow, as they're very low (side earnings really). 
This is all very interesting, Cheers! I wonder if our advisor is going a bit overboard now...