Guides

135 plain-English guides to UK tax, each with a named author and links to its official sources.

Page 4 of 7 · newest first

P11D and Benefits in Kind Explained: What Your Employer Reports and What It Costs You

Your employer reports benefits in kind on a P11D by 6 July. Nothing is deducted from your pay, but your tax code falls and your take-home drops. Here is the mechanism, with the 2026/27 numbers.

By Damon Smith · 6 Sept 2026

Self Assessment

Self Assessment Penalties: What You Owe at 1 Day, 3 Months, 6 Months and a Year

Miss the 31 January deadline and you owe £100 on day one. Miss it by a year on a £9,000 bill and penalties hit £3,250, because late filing and late payment are two separate ladders running at once.

By Mercy Oyelowo · 6 Sept 2026

Self-Employed

How to Correct a VAT Error: The Two Thresholds That Decide Your Route

Your net error decides everything. Under £10,000 you adjust the next return; between £10,000 and £50,000 the 1% of box 6 test applies; deliberate errors are always a separate notification.

By Krisztina Aranyi · 6 Sept 2026

Self Assessment

Simple Assessment Explained: The PA302 Letter and What to Do When the Figures Are Wrong

A Simple Assessment is HMRC telling you what it thinks you owe, not a return you file. You get 60 days to challenge the figures, and savings interest is where they most often go wrong.

By Maria Moisei · 6 Sept 2026

Self Assessment

Self Assessment: register by 5 October or face a penalty

If you need to file a Self Assessment return for the first time, you must tell HMRC by 5 October following the end of the tax year. Registration is not instant — a UTR arrives by post and can take ten working days or more, so leaving it late risks missing the January filing deadline too.

By Mercy Oyelowo · 21 Aug 2026

Self Assessment

Payments on account: why your January tax bill is 150% of what you expected

If your Self Assessment bill is over £1,000, HMRC also asks for two payments on account towards next year, each half the current year's liability. That makes the first January demand 150% of the tax actually owed for the year just ended.

By Mercy Oyelowo · 21 Aug 2026

Self-Employed

Side hustle tax: the £1,000 trading allowance and what HMRC already sees

You can earn £1,000 of gross trading income a year tax-free under the trading allowance. Online platforms including eBay, Vinted, Etsy and Airbnb now report seller data to HMRC automatically — but selling your own unwanted possessions is not trading and is not taxable however much data is shared.

By Mercy Oyelowo · 21 Aug 2026

Benefits

Carer's Allowance and the earnings limit: how the overpayment trap works

Carer's Allowance has a cliff-edge earnings limit. Earn a penny over it in any week and you lose the entire payment for that week, not a proportion. That single design feature is what has produced thousands of large overpayment demands, often years after the event.

By Damon Smith · 21 Aug 2026

Pensions

Pension Annual Allowance 2026/27: the £60,000 limit, carry forward and the taper

The pension annual allowance for 2026/27 is £60,000. It covers your contributions, your employer's and the tax relief added on top, across every scheme you hold. Carry forward can lift it using up to three previous tax years, while the taper cuts it to as little as £10,000 for high earners.

By Laura Michelle Davis · 21 Aug 2026

Pensions

Pension recycling rules: when paying your tax-free lump sum back in is taxed

Recycling means using pension tax-free cash to fund significantly increased pension contributions. If all of HMRC's conditions are met the lump sum becomes an unauthorised payment, with charges that can reach around 70%. All the conditions must be met, including that the increase was pre-planned.

By Laura Michelle Davis · 21 Aug 2026

Pensions

What happens to your pension when you die: the age-75 rule explained

A defined contribution pension does not pass under your will. Scheme trustees decide who receives it, guided by your expression of wish form. If you die under 75 beneficiaries normally pay no income tax on withdrawals; from 75 onwards they pay at their own marginal rate.

By Peter Cunniffe · 21 Aug 2026

Pensions

Pension or ISA: which is actually better for retirement?

A pension gives tax relief going in and taxes most of what comes out. An ISA is funded from taxed income and pays out tax-free. For a higher-rate taxpayer the pension typically delivers around 47% more from the same gross salary, before any employer contribution.

By Laura Michelle Davis · 21 Aug 2026

Pensions

Small pension pots: the £10,000 rule and trivial commutation

A pension pot worth £10,000 or less can be taken as a one-off lump sum under the small pots rule, with 25% tax-free. Crucially it does not trigger the £10,000 money purchase annual allowance, unlike taking flexible income from a larger pension.

By Laura Michelle Davis · 21 Aug 2026

Income Tax

Working from home tax relief: withdrawn for employees from April 2026

Employees can no longer claim working from home tax relief - it was withdrawn from 6 April 2026. You can still claim four earlier years, and the self-employed rules are unchanged.

By Maria Moisei · 21 Aug 2026

Income Tax

Uniform and tools tax rebate: flat rate expenses by job

If you wash a work uniform or buy your own tools, you can claim a flat rate expense without keeping receipts. The standard allowance is £60 a year, but many trades get more: £140 for joiners and police officers, £125 for nurses, £120 for mechanics. Claims can be backdated four tax years.

By Maria Moisei · 21 Aug 2026

Self-Employed

Mileage claims for the self-employed: flat rate vs actual costs

The self-employed can claim business mileage using the simplified flat rate of 55p a mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25p after that, or by claiming the actual running costs of the vehicle. Once you choose the flat rate for a vehicle you must keep using it for that vehicle.

By Alfred Odyero Ogwal · 21 Aug 2026

Property

CGT on selling a second property: the 60-day reporting rule

If you sell a UK residential property that is not your main home and there is capital gains tax to pay, you must report it and pay within 60 days of completion. Residential property gains are taxed at 18% or 24% after the £3,000 annual exempt amount, and penalties apply for missing the deadline.

By Peter Cunniffe · 21 Aug 2026

Savings & ISAs

Bed and ISA: using your CGT allowance before the tax year ends

Bed and ISA means selling investments held outside a tax wrapper and immediately repurchasing them inside an ISA. It uses your £3,000 annual exempt amount and moves future growth and dividends out of tax permanently. The 30-day rule does not apply, because the ISA is a different owner.

By Peter Cunniffe · 21 Aug 2026

Benefits

PIP reassessment: what to expect and how to prepare

A PIP award is granted for a fixed period and reviewed before it ends. Reassessment uses the same descriptors as the original claim, so the task is evidencing how your condition affects daily living and mobility on most days — not proving the diagnosis itself.

By TaxFly Editorial Team · 21 Aug 2026

News

HMRC Wage Raid Payroll Checks 2026: Who Gets Visited and Why

Payroll compliance checks have stepped up sharply in 2026, with 389 employers named and the new Fair Work Agency investigating without complaints. Who is at risk, and the self-audit that prevents it.

By Damon Smith · 27 Jul 2026

Deadlines, rate changes and what to claim

One email when something changes that affects your money. No daily send, no sponsored filler. Unsubscribe whenever.