The 2025/26 online return is due by 31 January 2027. A GoForma accountant prepares your return, checks the reliefs you can claim and files it with HMRC for a fixed £198, with HMRC enquiry support included.
2026/27 take-home calculator
A sole trader in their first year with £45,000 of profit after expenses, showing the first January bill with its payment on account. In 2026/27 that is £8,431.80 of Income Tax and National Insurance, leaving £36,568.20.
| Take-home | £36,568.20 |
|---|---|
| Income Tax | £6,486.00 |
| National Insurance | £1,945.80 |
| Expenses | £0.00 |
When the 2026/27 bill is due
Payments on account are due because the bill is over £1,000.
Uses 2026/27 rates for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with no other income, student loan or pension contributions unless entered. Scotland has different Income Tax bands. This is an estimate, not advice: your accountant will check your own figures.
Trusted by UK contractors, freelancers and limited-company directors since 2020.
Pick the situation closest to yours to see what your accountant handles. Every client works with an ACCA or AAT qualified accountant.
Sole traders and freelancers
What we cover
Self-employed people trading in their own name, including side businesses alongside a job.
Self-employed people trading in their own name, including side businesses alongside a job.
Landlords
What we cover
UK landlords reporting rent from a buy-to-let, a holiday let or a room let in their home.
UK landlords reporting rent from a buy-to-let, a holiday let or a room let in their home.
Higher earners
What we cover
People whose income affects their Personal Allowance, Child Benefit or pension tax relief.
People whose income affects their Personal Allowance, Child Benefit or pension tax relief.
Investors and crypto holders
What we cover
Investors with untaxed dividends, interest or gains, including crypto disposals above the £3,000 annual exempt amount.
Investors with untaxed dividends, interest or gains, including crypto disposals above the £3,000 annual exempt amount.
Company directors
What we cover
Directors who take dividends or have income outside PAYE that needs a personal return.
Directors who take dividends or have income outside PAYE that needs a personal return.
Not just the filings: the dedicated accountant, the contract guidance, the software, and the structure that makes self assessment tax return actually work for you.
Self-employment, employment, dividend, savings, property and foreign income brought together on one return.
Personal Allowance, pension contributions, Gift Aid and Marriage Allowance applied where you qualify.
What you owe, when it is due and whether payments on account apply.
Your return is filed online once you have approved the draft.
The January and July amounts set out so the bill is not a surprise.
If HMRC opens an enquiry into the return, we deal with the correspondence. Included in the £198.
| Feature | GoForma | Filing it yourself |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £198 fixed | Free to file online with HMRC |
| Prepared by an ACCA or AAT qualified accountant | ✓ | You |
| Reliefs and allowances checked | ✓ | You |
| Payments on account explained | ✓ | You |
| HMRC enquiry support | Included | You deal with HMRC |
A fixed £198 from start to a filed return.
Buy the £198 return online, or book a free consultation first if you are not sure what you need.
P60s, dividend statements, rental figures or exchange reports, depending on your income. We tell you exactly what we need.
Income brought together and the reliefs and allowances you qualify for applied.
You see the return and a summary of what you owe before anything is filed.
Filed online once you approve it, with the confirmation kept on file.
If HMRC opens an enquiry into the return, we handle the correspondence at no extra cost.
Quoted word for word from our Google reviews, under the names Google shows.
I'd highly recommend Goforma. They filed my tax return swiftly with clear and direct communication. Price was amazing. Jordan and Jawad were exceptional. I couldn't be more pleased with the efficiency and professionalism they provided.
I highly recommend GoForma. Very efficient practise that turned around my tax return quickly. Dealt with Jordan and Jawad, comms was always clear and to the point. Great value for the service they provide
Jawad was knowledgeable and efficient and helped me to submit my tax return - it was a straightforward process and will use him again.
I've been working with GoForma for close to 3 years now, and literally haven't had a single complaint, not even one.
Read all 72 reviews on Google.
The tax returns due by 31 January 2027 cover the 2025/26 tax year, which ran from 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026. If you had income that was not taxed through PAYE in that year, or you were self-employed, you are likely to need to file one. GoForma prepares and files Self Assessment returns for a fixed £198, and our accountants have filed more than 7,000 tax returns for UK clients.
According to GOV.UK, you must send a tax return for 2025/26 if, in that tax year, any of these applied:
If you are not sure, HMRC's check if you need to send a tax return tool gives an answer in a few minutes, and our guide on whether you need to complete a tax return walks through the common cases.
| What | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Tell HMRC you need to file (register for Self Assessment) | 5 October 2026 |
| Paper tax return | 11:59pm, 31 October 2026 |
| Online return, if you want the tax collected through your PAYE tax code | 11:59pm, 30 December 2026 |
| Online tax return | 11:59pm, 31 January 2027 |
| Pay the tax you owe for 2025/26, and any first payment on account for 2026/27 | 11:59pm, 31 January 2027 |
| Second payment on account for 2026/27 | 11:59pm, 31 July 2027 |
Source: GOV.UK Self Assessment deadlines. If you register after 5 October, HMRC gives you a later filing deadline of 3 months from the date on its letter, but the tax is still due by 31 January 2027.
A return filed even one day late gets an initial £100 penalty. After 3 months, HMRC adds £10 a day, up to £900. After 6 months there is a further penalty of 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater, and the same again after 12 months. Paying late adds separate penalties of 5% of the unpaid tax at 30 days, 6 months and 12 months, plus interest. You can appeal a penalty if you had a reasonable excuse (GOV.UK).
Unless your bill is under £1,000, or more than 80% of your tax was already taken at source, HMRC asks for two advance payments towards next year's bill, each half of this year's. In your first year of self-employment that means the January payment covers the whole year's tax plus the first advance payment.
Worked example: a sole trader with £45,000 of profit in 2025/26 and no other income pays Income Tax of £6,486.00 (£45,000 less the £12,570 Personal Allowance, at 20%) and Class 4 National Insurance of £1,945.80 (6% on the same £32,430). The bill is £8,431.80. On 31 January 2027 they pay that plus a first payment on account of £4,215.90, a total of £12,647.70, then another £4,215.90 on 31 July 2027. The calculator above runs the same sum for your own profit. More detail in our guide to payments on account.
A one-off Self Assessment return from GoForma is £198 plus VAT. A dedicated accountant prepares your SA100 return covering all your income, whether that is self-employment, employment, dividends, property or foreign income, checks the reliefs and allowances you can claim, and files it with HMRC. HMRC enquiry support is included. If your package with us already includes Self Assessment, as every sole trader package does, there is nothing extra to pay.
Our accountants are ACCA and AAT qualified, and GoForma is rated 4.9 on Google from 72 reviews. You can buy the return online or book a free consultation first.
Since the 2024/25 return, Self Assessment has a separate cryptoasset section for gains, reported in pounds sterling. The Capital Gains Tax annual exempt amount is £3,000, and gains above it are taxed at 18% or 24% depending on your income. If you have a lot of crypto transactions, our crypto Self Assessment service is £298 and includes a Koinly licence covering up to 25,000 transactions. Landlords report rental income on the property pages of the return; see our property accountants page.
From 6 April 2026, sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000 must keep digital records and send quarterly updates through compatible software, then file their tax return through that software. The threshold falls to £30,000 from 6 April 2027 and £20,000 from 6 April 2028 (GOV.UK). The return for 2025/26 is still filed the usual way. Our Start Sole Trader + MTD package at £68 a month covers the quarterly updates.
Guides
Who needs to file, when the deadlines fall, how to pay the bill and how to keep it down.
Your accounting matters too much to be handed off to an offshore team you'll never meet. Every GoForma client gets a named, UK-qualified accountant, with a London office and a phone number that picks up.
UK off-payroll working rules. They decide whether a contractor working through a limited company is genuinely in business or is a 'disguised employee' for tax purposes.
Read the official HMRC / gov.uk guidanceThe tax a UK limited company pays on its taxable profits, currently between 19% and 25% of profit depending on profit level. Filed annually via a CT600 return.
Read the official HMRC / gov.uk guidanceThe annual personal tax return that a limited-company director files for their own income, typically dividends, salary and other personal income. Deadline: 31 January.
Read the official HMRC / gov.uk guidanceHMRC's programme that requires VAT-registered and self-employed taxpayers to keep digital records and file via approved software like FreeAgent.
Read the official HMRC / gov.uk guidanceAn annual filing to Companies House confirming the company's directors, shareholders and registered office. Separate from CT and SA, but every limited company has to file one.
Read the official HMRC / gov.uk guidanceA set of HMRC rules for the construction sector where contractors deduct money from subcontractor payments at source and pass it to HMRC as advance tax.
Read the official HMRC / gov.uk guidance
