Self assessment tax returns, done properly and early.
TaxReck prepares and files self assessment tax returns for sole traders, landlords, CIS subcontractors, people with a side income and company directors, from Chadwell Heath in London, between Romford and Ilford, and across the UK. You send what you have, we prepare the return and explain the bill, and nothing is filed until you have approved it.
- £300 a year, everything included
- £150 for one return on its own
- Filed within a week of your approval
128 daysto the 31 January 2027 deadline for the 2025 to 2026 return
- 5 OctTell HMRC you need to file
- 31 OctPaper returns
- 30 DecFile to pay through your tax code
- 31 JanOnline return and payment
- 31 JulSecond payment on account
The tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April. The return for it is due the following 31 January, and we aim to have yours filed by the end of November.
Who needs a self assessment tax return.
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Self employed or freelance Sole trader package, £300 a year
You earned more than £1,000 from your own work in the tax year, before expenses. That is the line where HMRC wants a return, whether it is your living or a sideline next to a job.
- The return and your accounts prepared from whatever records you keep
- Every allowable expense claimed, including the ones people forget
- Class 4 National Insurance and payments on account explained before the bill arrives
-
Landlord Landlord package, £300 a year
Rent of more than £1,000 in the year has to be told to HMRC, and a return is due once rental income passes £10,000 or the profit passes £2,500. One flat or a small portfolio, the rules are the same.
- The property pages, with the 20% relief on mortgage interest worked correctly
- Repairs claimed now, improvements kept for when you sell
- Joint ownership split the right way, and the Making Tax Digital threshold checked every year
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CIS subcontractor Included in the sole trader package
Your contractor takes 20% off every invoice before you see it, or 30% if you are not registered. Most subcontractors have paid too much by the end of the year and are owed money back.
- Your CIS statements gathered and matched to what you were actually paid
- Tools, travel, materials and phone claimed against the income
- The refund claimed as soon as the tax year ends on 5 April, not in January
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A side income next to your job Tax return only, £150
Evening work, deliveries, a market stall, selling online: once it passes £1,000 in a year it has to be reported, and online marketplaces now pass sellers’ details to HMRC.
- Whether the £1,000 trading allowance covers you, or claiming your real costs works out better
- The return prepared alongside your PAYE job, so nothing is taxed twice
- A bill under £3,000 collected through your tax code if you prefer, by filing before 30 December
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Earning over £60,000 with Child Benefit Tax return only, £150
Once your income passes £60,000, 1% of the Child Benefit is clawed back for every £200 above it, and all of it at £80,000. It is the higher earner in the household who pays, whoever receives the benefit.
- Your adjusted net income worked out, so you know whether the charge applies at all
- Whether a pension contribution takes you back under the line
- The charge paid through PAYE or a return, whichever suits you, and we tell you if you do not need a return
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Company director or dividends One director’s return is in the £475 company package
Dividends above the £500 allowance, or any other untaxed income, have to be reported on a return. Running a company does not by itself mean you need one, and we tell you which side of the line you are on.
- The return with the dividend pages, taxed at this year’s 10.75%, 35.75% and 39.35% rates
- A salary and dividend plan for the year ahead, run on your figures
- The company accounts and corporation tax return alongside, on the £475 package
Self assessment deadlines, and what missing them costs.
Tell HMRC you need to file
If you have never sent a return, or did not need one last year, register by 5 October after the end of the tax year. Miss it and, if tax is still unpaid on 31 January, HMRC can add a failure to notify penalty on top.
Paper returns
A return on paper has to reach HMRC by 31 October. Online returns have until January, which is why almost everyone, including us, files online.
File to pay through your tax code
If you also pay tax through PAYE and the bill is under £3,000, filing by 30 December lets HMRC collect it through your tax code across the following year instead of in one payment.
Online return in, and the tax paid
Both by 11.59pm. From the next day it is a £100 penalty for the return, 5% of the unpaid tax after 30 days, and interest running from 1 February. Our returns go in by the end of November, so this is a date our clients read about rather than live through.
Second payment on account
If your bill is £1,000 or more, half of next year’s tax is paid in January and the other half now. We tell you the figure with the return, months ahead.
How we prepare and file your tax return.
Send what you have
Bank statements, invoices, CIS statements, rental statements, a P60 from a job. A photo of a receipt or a forwarded email is fine. We tell you what is missing, once, in one list.
We prepare it and explain it
Your draft return is ready in two to three working days, with the figure to pay, the date it is due and the reasons behind it in plain English. Questions at this point are free and expected.
You approve, we file
Nothing goes to HMRC until you have said yes. We file within a week of your approval, send you the confirmation and the SA302 calculation, and put the payment dates in your diary and ours.
If you are self employed or on CIS
- Bank statements for the year, or a bank feed we can read
- Sales invoices, or the app you invoice from
- Receipts for costs, however you have kept them
- CIS deduction statements from each contractor
- A P60 or P45 if you also had a job, and any benefits
If you are a landlord
- Rent received, from your letting agent’s statements or your bank
- Your mortgage interest statement for the year
- Repairs, insurance, agent fees, ground rent and service charges
- Completion statements if you bought or sold in the year
- Who owns the property, and in what shares
Making Tax Digital: four updates a year, done for you.
When it starts, by your self employment and rental income together
- £50,000From 6 April 2026. If your income passed £50,000 in the 2024 to 2025 tax year you should already be in, and the first update was due 7 August 2026.
- £30,000From 6 April 2027. Judged on your 2025 to 2026 return, so the return we file this winter decides it.
- £20,000From 6 April 2028. Judged on the 2026 to 2027 tax year, the one running now.
The quarterly update deadlines
- 7 Augto 5 July
- 7 Novto 5 October
- 7 Febto 5 January
- 7 Mayto 5 April
What we do
- Check your threshold every year and sign you up when it applies, or tell HMRC if you are exempt
- Keep the digital records in software that works with HMRC, from your bank feed and receipts
- Send the four quarterly updates on time, and the final return by 31 January
- The year before you start still needs an ordinary return, and we file that too
Payments on account: why the first bill is one and a half.
Once your bill is £1,000 or more, and less than 80% of your tax was collected at source, HMRC asks for next year’s tax in advance: half on 31 January and half on 31 July, each based on this year’s bill. They are called payments on account. Here is what that looks like for a first year with £3,000 of tax to pay.
- Tax for the year to 5 April 2026£3,000
- First payment on account for 2026 to 2027, due the same day£1,500
- Due on 31 January 2027£4,500
- Second payment on account, due 31 July 2027£1,500
The following January you pay only the difference between the real bill and what you have paid on account, so the second year is gentler. If your profit is falling we reduce the payments on account before they are due, and if it is rising we tell you what to put aside each month. The sole trader estimate on the Tax Desk shows the working on your own figures.
Late tax return? The penalties, and how we fix it.
| How late | Late return | Late payment |
|---|---|---|
| 1 day | £100, even if there is no tax to pay | Interest starts on 1 February |
| 30 days | — | 5% of the tax unpaid |
| 3 months | £10 a day for up to 90 days, so up to £900 more | — |
| 6 months | 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is more | Another 5% of the tax unpaid |
| 12 months | Another 5% or £300, whichever is more | Another 5% of the tax unpaid |
What we do about it
- Every missing year prepared and filed, oldest first, for £150 a year
- Penalties appealed where there is a reasonable excuse, such as illness, bereavement or an HMRC error
- A time to pay arrangement with HMRC if the bill cannot be paid in one go
- HMRC letters answered by us, so you stop dreading the post
- Then the £300 package, so it never happens again
Self assessment fees: fixed, from £150.
- £300a year
Sole trader package
- Self assessment return and your annual accounts
- CIS refund claimed if you are in construction
- HMRC letters handled and every deadline tracked
- Quick questions by phone or email, free
- £300a year
Landlord package
- Self assessment return with the property pages
- Mortgage interest relief, repairs and improvements handled correctly
- Making Tax Digital threshold checked every year
- Quick questions by phone or email, free
- £150one return
Tax return only
- One return prepared, explained and filed
- For a side income, dividends, Child Benefit or a one-off year
- No monthly fee
- £150a year of returns
Catch up year
- A late or missing year prepared and filed
- Penalty appeals where there is a reasonable excuse
- £125per return
60 day property return
- The capital gains return due within 60 days of selling a home you let out
- Reported again on the year’s return, included
Fees are fixed for the year and reviewed once a year. You can leave with a month’s notice. Every price on the site is on the fees page.
Self assessment accountants for Romford, Ilford, Barking and Dagenham.
Our office is on the High Road in Chadwell Heath, about two miles from Romford and four from Ilford, with Dagenham to the south and Barking to the south west. If you live or work in any of them and want a self assessment accountant close by, we are it.
Most tax returns never need a meeting. You send your records by email, WhatsApp or a photo from your phone, we talk it through on a call, and the return is filed online. If you would rather sit across a table, you are welcome at the office by appointment, Monday to Friday. Chadwell Heath station, on the Elizabeth line, is the nearest.
Chadwell Heath
RM6. Our office, at 321-323 High Road.
Romford
RM1 to RM7, including Gidea Park, Collier Row, Harold Wood and Rush Green.
Ilford
IG1 to IG6, including Gants Hill, Seven Kings, Goodmayes and Barkingside.
Dagenham
RM8, RM9 and RM10, including Becontree.
Barking
IG11, including Upney and Barking Riverside.
The rest of the UK
By phone, email and WhatsApp. The return is filed online wherever you are.
Self assessment questions, answered.
Yes if, in the tax year, you earned more than £1,000 from self employment before expenses, you had rental income over £10,000 or rental profit over £2,500 (rent over £1,000 has to be reported either way), you had dividends or other untaxed income, you owe the High Income Child Benefit Charge and do not pay it through PAYE, you were a partner in a business, you had capital gains tax to pay, or HMRC has sent you a notice to file. If you are not sure, a two minute call settles it.
Online returns and the tax are due by 11.59pm on 31 January after the tax year ends: 31 January 2027 for the year to 5 April 2026. Paper returns are due by 31 October. If you have never filed before, tell HMRC by 5 October. We aim to file within a week of your approval and about two months before the deadline, so January is quiet.
Once your self assessment bill is £1,000 or more and less than 80% of your tax was collected at source, HMRC asks for next year’s tax in advance: half on 31 January and half on 31 July, each based on this year’s bill. The first year is the expensive one because you pay this year’s balance and half of next year’s on the same day. We tell you the figure months ahead, and reduce the payments if we know your profit is falling.
A return one day late is £100. After three months it is £10 a day for up to 90 days, a further £900. After six months and again after twelve months, 5% of the tax or £300, whichever is more. Late payment adds 5% of the unpaid tax at 30 days, six months and twelve months, plus interest. Every month it waits costs more, so the answer is to file now: we prepare a missing year for £150, and appeal the penalties where there is a reasonable excuse.
A sole trader or landlord package is £300 a year and includes the return, the accounts, CIS refunds, HMRC letters and deadline tracking. One return on its own is £150. A missing year is £150, and a 60 day property return is £125. Every fee is fixed and agreed in writing before any work starts. There is no hourly rate, and a quick question by phone or email is free.
If your income from self employment and property together was over £50,000 in the 2024 to 2025 tax year, you should have started from 6 April 2026. Over £30,000 in 2025 to 2026 means April 2027, and over £20,000 in 2026 to 2027 means April 2028. It means digital records and four quarterly updates a year, due 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, then a final return by 31 January. We keep the records, send the updates and file the return, so nothing changes for you except fewer surprises.
Yes. Our office is in Chadwell Heath, RM6, about two miles from Romford and four from Ilford, with Dagenham to the south and Barking to the south west. You are welcome at the office by appointment, Monday to Friday. Everything can also be done by phone, email and WhatsApp, which is how we work with people elsewhere in the UK.
Get a fixed quote for your tax return.
Send last year’s return, or just tell us what you do.
A free first call, a fixed quote within a working day, and no obligation either way. If you have never filed before, we register you with HMRC as part of the job.