Self assessment confusion - PAYE for 15+ years yet registered for SA

confidentlyconfused

Hi there, long time reader of the site and forums but a new poster. I hope this is in the right section.

I created an online tax account over the weekend to check my national insurance contributions.

While doing so I see I have a UTR number and am registered for self assessment. Please note i've been PAYE for over 15 years in my current job and 2 years in a job prior to that. PAYE info on the HMRC gov site shows correct for 2018 up to the current year.

I believe the registration might be historic from being self employed for a brief spell early 2000's and filing tax returns back in 2005 if memory serves. I honestly don't remember if I informed HMRC I was no longer self employed however I went bankrupt in 2007 and a portion of the debt was to HMRC, not sure if that is relevant.

I worry i've missed something. I struggle with what you might call high functioning anxiety and this has made me extremely worried over the weekend. I've obsessively spent hours and hours searching different articles and each one suggests I do not fill any of the criteria which means I have to submit a return.

Enough waffling, I apologise - my question essentially is does being registered for self assessment mean you automatically have to submit one each year or only if/when the need arises? I can't remember the last time I had a letter from HMRC, let alone a letter asking me to submit a tax return.

confidentlyconfused

Apologies, i've got onto HMRC web chat who have confirmed I no longer have an active self assessment record and clarified that unless things change in the future and I meet the criteria, there is nothing to do.

Feel like an idiot for stressing over this all weekend.

[Deleted User]

Unless HMRC specifically issue you with a notice to file you have nothing to stress over. Given what you have said, this is unlikely.  There is a difference between being registered for self-assessment and having to file a return. If you ever do have to file a return the mechanism is there. 

On the UTR issue, you have stated that you were self-employed at one time - that’s why you have one and are registered for self assessment. That UTR will remain with you for life but you may never need to use it again.

When you log in to your account, on the opening screen, it will clearly indicate whether you are required to file.

confidentlyconfused

[Deleted User] said:

Unless HMRC specifically issue you with a notice to file you have nothing to stress over. Given what you have said, this is unlikely.  There is a difference between being registered for self-assessment and having to file a return. If you ever do have to file a return the mechanism is there. 

On the UTR issue, you have stated that you were self-employed at one time - that’s why you have one and are registered for self assessment. That UTR will remain with you for life but you may never need to use it again.

When you log in to your account, on the opening screen, it will clearly indicate whether you are required to file.

Thankyou for the reply, I had figured if something was required it would be glaringly obvious on the tax portal but i've been over thinking this so much.

Jeremy535897

It is most unlikely that HMRC regard you as requiring to complete a self assessment tax return, because you should have been receiving estimated assessments, penalty notices and lots of communications. Log on to your business tax account though to see if it says you need to complete a return. Check your personal tax account and see what it says in the box described as self assessment. If you don't have one, they don't regard you as requiring to complete one.

When an individual goes bankrupt, they are issued with a new UTR, so if you were not self employed at that time, that may be why you haven't been asked to complete a return. See:
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/self-assessment-manual/sam106030

Ayr_Rage

If your contact details are up to date on the HMRC website then you will get nudged by them if they require you to file anything !