The tax year timeline: key dates for 2022/23

The new tax year is upon us and that means a whole new set of deadlines. With so many scattered throughout the year, it’s easy to lose track. We don’t want you to miss something important, so here is our guide to the key dates of 2022/23.

Self-assessment

If you’re self-employed, a director, a sole trader or need to fill in a tax return for some other reason, you probably already know the main deadlines for submitting your self-assessment:

• Submissions for 2021/22 self-assessments opened on 6 April
• Paper tax returns must be submitted by midnight on 31 October 2022
• The deadline for online tax returns is midnight on 31 January 2023

The final deadline for self-assessment payments is also midnight on 31 January 2023, so it’s a good idea to get your tax return in a few weeks earlier. If this is your first year being self-employed, you must register for self-assessment by 5 October 2022. You can do this on the gov.uk website.

There are also a few less well-known deadlines to bear in mind:

• You may choose to pay your self-assessment bill in advance instalments. This is called payment on account. In this case, there is a second payment deadline of 31 July.
• If you want HMRC to automatically collect the tax you owe from your pension or other wages, you must submit your return by 30 December.
• If you are a trustee of a registered pension scheme or a non-resident company, the submission deadline is 31 January. Trustees may only submit a paper return.

VAT

The government has already added VAT to its Making Tax Digital scheme. This means that you can only submit VAT returns and make VAT payments online. There are no universal deadlines for this. Instead, they are based on your company’s accounting period. For most businesses this will be quarterly although some opt to use an annual scheme.

You must register to pay VAT if your turnover for an upcoming 30-day period is likely to exceed £85,000, or if your turnover for the last 12 months has exceeded that amount. In the first scenario, you must register by the end of the 30-day period. In the second, the registration deadline is 30 days after the end of the month in which you exceeded the threshold.

The deadlines for submitting a VAT return and making a VAT payment are usually the same: one calendar month and seven days from the end of the accounting period.

Limited companies

If you run a limited company things are a little more involved. Each year, you will need to file your accounts with Companies House and your tax return with HMRC. Once again, the deadlines for these depend on your accounting period:

• You should file your first accounts within 21 months of the date you registered with Companies House.
• Your annual accounts should be filed within nine months of the end of your company’s financial year.
• The deadline for paying Corporation Tax is nine months and one day from the end of your accounting period.
• The deadline for filing a company tax return is 12 months from the end of your accounting period.

So for example if the end of your accounting period is 31 August, your deadline for submitting accounts to Companies House would be 31 May 2022 and any tax due to HMRC would be payable the following day. Your corporation tax return would be due to HMRC on 31 August 2022.

Payroll

If you have employees on your books, you will need to send their PAYE deductions and National Insurance contributions to HMRC:

• P60s for anyone working for you on 5 April 2022 need to be sent out to them by 31 May.
• P11Ds for benefits in kind need to be sent to HMRC and employees by 6 July if relevant, and NI payments associated with them made by 19 July, or 22 July if paying electronically.
• You should send an FPS (Full Payment Submission) to HMRC every month. This should contain details of all payments and deductions, and must be sent on or before the day that you pay your employees. Guidance on completing an FPS can be found here.
• Monthly tax and National Insurance payments should be sent to HMRC by the 22nd of the month, or the 19th if you’re paying by post. You may be able to switch to quarterly payments if you pay less than £1,500 a month in NI, but you should still send a monthly FPS.

If you’re struggling to meet these deadlines, or need any other advice about business tax, don’t hesitate to get in touch.