WORKMADE

The tax rules are changing. Is it your turn yet?

HMRC is retiring the once-a-year tax return for people who work for themselves. It's rolling out by income, year by year. Three quick questions and we'll tell you exactly where you stand — in plain English, no jargon.

Do you earn money working for yourself?

Freelance, self-employed, side business, or renting out property — any of it counts.

One useful email now and then as your date approaches. No spam, easy out.

What’s actually changing, in one paragraph

Right now you tell HMRC about your year once, in one big January return. Under the new rules — the government calls it Making Tax Digital, you don't have to — you'll send a short update every three months instead, through software. You won't pay tax more often. The money dates stay the same. You'll just be reporting as you go instead of reconstructing a whole year each winter.

Never dealt with HMRC? Here’s the whole dance.

If you're new to working for yourself, there are three government steps nobody can do for you — not us, not any software. But we can tell you exactly what they are, so none of it is a surprise:

  1. Tell HMRC you work for yourself. One form on gov.uk, free, about ten minutes. Have your National Insurance number handy (it's on any payslip) and roughly when you started.
  2. Wait for one letter. HMRC posts you a ten-digit reference number (they call it a UTR — it's basically your tax account number). It usually takes ten to fifteen working days. This is the slow part; there's no skipping it.
  3. Connect your software. Once the letter arrives, you log in through HMRC's own screen and press "give permission" — the same way you'd connect an app to your bank. Done once, it lasts eighteen months.

Where WorkMade fits

Everything else — the books, knowing what to set aside, the quarterly updates, the return itself — happens in WorkMade while you get on with the actual work. And you don't have to wait for HMRC's letter to start: your books can be running on day one.

This is a plain-English guide, not tax advice — the thresholds are set by HMRC and can change. © WorkMade Technologies, Inc. · Terms · Privacy · workmade.co.uk