A financial year (year in which you have been trading as self-employed) usually runs from the 6th April – 5th April in the United Kingdom. At the end of this financial year you need to submit a tax return to HMRC. The amount of tax you will pay will be based on the profit you have made from your business in this financial year.

In some circumstances a person’s year end can be a different date. This is usually because a person started trading at a different point in the year and simply selected their year end to finish on the date they started trading rather than the default of 5th April.

If you wanted to change your year end as a sole trader it would simply involve filling in a section on your tax return stating what you would like you new year end to be. If you have a limited company you must fill out the relevant form to Companies House and inform HMRC.

For sole traders, it doesn’t make much of a difference what your year end is, the deadlines and timescales stay the same no matter what date you choose, although it is more straightforward to have the ‘normal’ year end of 5th April. For limited companies however, the deadlines will change in line with the different year ends.

If you would like any further information on this please do not hesitate to phone or email us, or alternatively, you can simply use the live chat link available.

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About The Author

Lee Murphy

MAAT and ICPA accountant, with a passion for making accountancy and bookkeeping accessible. Other interests include cloud-based software development for web and mobile access, keeping fit, reading, and entrepreneurship.

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