In the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, a tax return is a document

Tax form

A tax form is a blank document or template supplied by a government for use in the reporting of tax information to the government or to potential taxpayers...

 that must be filed with the HM Revenue & Customs declaring liability for taxation. Different bodies must file different returns with respect to various forms of taxation. The main returns currently in use are:

• SA100 for individuals paying Income Tax
• SA800 for partnership
  Partnership
  A partnership is an arrangement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests.Since humans are social beings, partnerships between individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments, and varied combinations thereof, have always been and remain commonplace...
  
  s
• SA900 for trust
  Trust law
  In common law legal systems, a trust is a relationship whereby property is held by one party for the benefit of another...
  
  s and estate
  Estate (law)
  An estate is the net worth of a person at any point in time. It is the sum of a person's assets - legal rights, interests and entitlements to property of any kind - less all liabilities at that time. The issue is of special legal significance on a question of bankruptcy and death of the person...
  
  s of deceased persons
• CT600 for companies paying Corporation Tax
  United Kingdom corporation tax
  Corporation tax is a tax levied in the United Kingdom on the profits made by companies and on the profits of permanent establishments of non-UK resident companies and associations that trade in the EU. Prior to the tax's enactment on 1 April 1965, companies and individuals paid the same income tax,...
  
  
• P35 for PAYE
  PAYE
  Pay as you earn or PAYE refers to a system of withholding of income tax from payments to employees. Amounts withheld are treated as advance payments of income tax due. They are refundable to the extent they exceed tax as determined on tax returns. PAYE may also refer to withholding of the...
  
   deductions by employers and National Insurance
  National Insurance
  National Insurance in the United Kingdom was initially a contributory system of insurance against illness and unemployment, and later also provided retirement pensions and other benefits...
  
   contributions
• VAT100 for value added tax
  Value added tax
  A value added tax or value-added tax is a form of consumption tax. From the perspective of the buyer, it is a tax on the purchase price. From that of the seller, it is a tax only on the "value added" to a product, material or service, from an accounting point of view, by this stage of its...
  
  

Income tax self-assessment

Most employees paying tax under the PAYE system are not required to file a tax return, because the PAYE system operates to withhold the correct amount of tax from their wages or salaries.

A tax return is required for

• the self-employed including someone in a partnership
• controlling company director, but not a director of a non-profit organisation or anyone not receiving any payments or benefits
• a minister of any religion
• a name or member of Lloyd's
  Lloyd's of London
  Lloyd's, also known as Lloyd's of London, is a British insurance and reinsurance market. It serves as a partially mutualised marketplace where multiple financial backers, underwriters, or members, whether individuals or corporations, come together to pool and spread risk...
  
  
• income from savings and investments of £10,000 or more
• income from untaxed savings and investments of £2,500 or more
• income from property of £10,000 or more before deducting allowable expenses or £2,500 or more after deducting allowable expenses
• employment income on PAYE above £100,000
• anyone lived or worked abroad or aren't domiciled in the UK
• have Capital Gains Tax
  Capital gains tax
  A capital gains tax is a tax charged on capital gains, the profit realized on the sale of a non-inventory asset that was purchased at a lower price. The most common capital gains are realized from the sale of stocks, bonds, precious metals and property...
  
   to pay
• anyone who owes tax and it can not be collected through the tax code. For instance when the taxable Basic State Pension
  Basic state pension
  The Basic State Pension , is part of the United Kingdom Government pension arrangement, alongside the Graduated Retirement Benefit and State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme .- Background :...
  
   is greater than the Personal allowance
  Personal allowance
  In the UK tax system, Personal Allowance is the level above which income tax is levied on an individual's annual income. A person who receives less than his/her personal allowance in taxable income in a given tax year does not pay income tax; otherwise, tax must be paid according to how much is...
  
  

The standard form in use is the SA100, complete with additional sheets for particular sources of income. A short tax return, form SA200, is available for those with incomes below £30,000. HMRC selects those that can complete a SA200.

The process must be completed by 31 January following the end of the relevant tax year for those who complete the tax return online and by 31 October following the end of the tax year for those who file by a paper return.

Partnerships

A partnership, including one in which all partners are companies, files form SA800. The partnership itself does not normally pay income tax, capital gains tax or corporation tax, but is required to provide a Partnership Statement to each partner reporting that partner's share of income and gains.

Trusts and estates

A trustee, including trustees of certain pension schemes, must file form SA900 by 31 January following the end of the relevant tax year for those who complete the tax return online and by 31 October following the end of the tax year for those who file by a paper return. A personal representative

Personal representative

In common law jurisdictions, a personal representative is the generic term for an executor for the estate of a deceased person who left a will or the administrator of an intestate estate. In either case, a surrogate court of competent jurisdiction issues a finding of fact, including that a will...

 administering the estate of a deceased person must file a form SA900 if the affairs of the estate are complex. Whether or not a tax return is required, each beneficiary

Beneficiary (trust)

In trust law, a beneficiary or cestui que use, a.k.a. cestui que trust, is the person or persons who are entitled to the benefit of any trust arrangement. A beneficiary will normally be a natural person, but it is perfectly possible to have a company as the beneficiary of a trust, and this often...

's share of taxable income is reported to the beneficiary on form R185.

Corporation tax self-assessment

A company must file a return, using form CT600, and assess its liability to tax, normally within 12 months of the end of its accounting year.

PAYE deductions

At the end of the tax year, after 6 April, employers operating PAYE

PAYE

Pay as you earn or PAYE refers to a system of withholding of income tax from payments to employees. Amounts withheld are treated as advance payments of income tax due. They are refundable to the extent they exceed tax as determined on tax returns. PAYE may also refer to withholding of the...

 schemes must report to HMRC their employees, the total that has been paid to them, the amounts of income tax and national insurance

National Insurance

National Insurance in the United Kingdom was initially a contributory system of insurance against illness and unemployment, and later also provided retirement pensions and other benefits...

contributions (NICs) that have been deducted from those payments, and the amount of employer's NICs due. This is done on form P35.