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Understanding your Self Assessment Statement

When you send HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) a Self Assessment tax return you will get a Self Assessment Statement showing what tax you owe and how to pay. If you've paid too much it'll show how much you'll be repaid. If you send your tax return online you can view your statement before it comes in the post.

Viewing your Self Assessment Statement online

If you register to use HMRC Online Services and send your return online, you can see what you owe straight away. You'll also be able to check your earlier statements and view a detailed breakdown of your tax history.

HMRC will still send you a paper Self Assessment Statement too, usually 45 days before payment is due.

Viewing your business tax

If you're self-employed and have signed up for HMRC Online Services, you can use the Business Tax Dashboard to see all of your business tax in one place. You need to have registered as an organisation when you signed up for HMRC Online Services to do this.

If you registered as an individual, you may need to re-register for HMRC Online Services as an organisation to get the full benefit of Business Tax Dashboard.

What's on your Self Assessment Statement

Your statement won't always match the amount you worked out on your Self Assessment return. You'll sometimes owe 'balancing payments' for the previous year or have made 'payments on account' for the current year - these are shown on your Self Assessment Statement. See the sections below for more on balancing payments and payments on account.

On your Self Assessment Statement you'll find:

  • the statement number and date
  • your ten-digit Unique Tax Reference (UTR) number
  • your National Insurance number
  • if you're employed, your employer's tax reference

You'll also find phone numbers for any queries.

The parts of your statement

Your statement shows the balance from your last statement (what you owed then) and details of any changes since your last statement was issued. These may include:

  • amounts you've paid
  • any remaining tax due for the previous tax year - the 'balancing payment'
  • any penalties you may owe
  • any interest you owe
  • details of any 'payments on account' due now
  • any 'payments on account' due (within the next 45 days)
  • any repayments due to you - (some repayments are security checked and will be issued a few days after the date shown on your statement)
  • any interest due on tax you have overpaid
  • a summary box showing the overall account balance

If you're due to make a payment, you'll find a pay slip at the bottom of the statement. Instructions for how to pay are on the back of the statement.

Penalties and interest on your statement

If you're late paying any tax you owe, you may have to pay interest and penalties. These will be shown on your statement.

Your statement will also show any interest and/or penalties you have to pay because of an error found during a check into your tax return.

Mistakes on your tax return

If HMRC finds you've made a mistake on your tax return, they’ll correct it and your statement will show the right amount. You'll receive a tax calculation showing how HMRC worked out the correct figure.

When is your Self Assessment Statement issued?

You can expect to get a Self Assessment Statement:

  • within 45 days of a payment becoming due
  • when you've paid too much tax
  • after a check into your return changed the tax due
  • if an entry in your last statement has changed
  • when tax is going to be collected through your PAYE (Pay As You Earn) tax code  

Tax can usually be collected through your PAYE code if the amount due is below £3,000 and you pay enough tax to collect it in one year. You must have sent your online tax return by 30 December or paper tax return by 31 October.

Balancing payments - find out what they are

You may have to pay a 'balancing payment' if tax is still due for the previous tax year. It is the amount of tax still due after you have paid your payments on account. You have to pay the balancing payment by 31 January after the end of the tax year.

Why are balancing payments due?

If the right amount of tax hasn’t been collected during the previous tax year, a balancing payment is due. For example if:

  • you have untaxed income that wasn't included in your PAYE tax code
  • you have been taxed on investment income at the basic rate, but should have paid higher rate tax
  • you have Capital Gains Tax to pay

Balancing payments - an example

Mrs B completes her 2011-12 tax return for the tax year ending 5 April 2012.

She works out that her tax bill is £4,000.

She has already had £3,000 tax deducted at source.

Her balancing payment, due on the 31 January 2013 is £1,000.

Payments on account - when do you need to pay them?

You may have to make 'payments on account' towards the current year's tax.

You usually have to make these payments if the tax due for the previous year was over £1,000. But if more than 80 per cent of this tax has already been collected at source, you won't have to make payments on account.

If you do make payments on account, you will make two payments. Each payment is half of the tax due for the previous year.

You must pay the first instalment by 31 January in the current year and the second by the following 31 July. For example, for the tax year 2011-12 (6 April 2011 to 5 April 2012) the first payment on account is due on 31 January 2012. The second payment on account is due on 31 July 2012.

Example - no payments on account are needed

Mr L's tax bill for the 2010-11 tax year was £1200

£1000 of this tax had already been collected at source on his savings.

As the tax collected at source is more than 80% of the tax bill, Mr L won't have to make payments on account for the 2011-12 tax year.

He must pay any tax due for the 2011-12 tax year by the normal payment deadline of 31 January 2013.

Example - payments on account must be made

Mrs A completes her 2010-11 tax return and works out that she has £4500 tax to pay for the year ending 5 April 2011. No tax has been collected at source.

She has already made two payments on account towards this amount - £2000 in January 2011 and £2000 in July 2011.

She must now make a balancing payment of £500 by 31 January 2012.

Her payments on account for the 2011-12 tax year will be £2250 each.

This is half of the tax that was due for 2010-11 (£4500/2)

These payments are due on 31 January 2012 and 31 July 2012.

If you think your payments on account are too high

If you know that your income for the current year will be lower than last year's, you can ask to reduce your payments on account. But:

  • if you pay less than you need to, HMRC will charge you interest
  • HMRC may ask you to pay a penalty too if they think you haven't taken reasonable care

You can reduce your payments on account in any of the following ways:

  • make a claim on the calculation pages of your tax return
  • sign on to HMRC Online Services and make a claim online
  • download, complete and send form SA303

If you realise that you've reduced your payments by too much - perhaps because your income turns out to be higher than you thought - please tell HMRC straight away.

You can do this online, download form SA303 or ring HMRC on the phone number on your Self Assessment Statement. If you delay you may have to pay interest and a penalty.

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