Small business accounting calendar: key tax dates and deadlines

As a small business, you will have various tax deadlines to meet to make sure you remain compliant with HMRC.

To help, we’ve put together a timeline of the most important accounting dates in a standard year for the average small business owner or freelancer in the UK.

Some dates will change a little from year to year, but the deadlines generally fall at the same time.

Calendar of a typical small business tax year in the UK

Here's what a typical tax year could look like for a small business based in the UK. Keep in mind that the deadlines for your own business will depend on your unique situation, such as whether you have employees or if you're running your business on the side while working full-time.

January

1st - Corporation Tax payment deadline (if you have a limited company with an accounting year end of 31st March)

31st - Self Assessment online tax return filing deadline

31st - First Income Tax and National Insurance payment on account deadline, balancing payment deadline

March

31st - Corporation Tax return filing deadline (if you have a limited company with an accounting year end of 31st March)

April

6th - New tax year! The Chancellor’s planned updates to any tax rates, wage rates and minimum pension contributions (among other things) will come into effect today 

May

31st - Deadline for issuing any employees with their annual P60s

July

6th - Deadline for filing P11D and P11D(b) forms (if applicable)

22nd - Deadline for paying Class 1A National Insurance Contributions (you’ll only pay this on benefits you give to your employees, such as private medical insurance)

31st - Second Income Tax and National Insurance payment on account deadline

October

31st - Self Assessment paper tax return filing deadline

December

31st - The deadline for filing your company’s annual accounts if you have a limited company with an accounting year end of 31st March (the most common year-end date)

A note on VAT return deadlines

The majority of small businesses are required to file their VAT return four times a year. Under the Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT legislation, all VAT-registered businesses are obliged to submit their returns via MTD-compliant software, such as Quickbooks. The usual quarterly VAT return dates are:

1st January - 31st March

1st April - 30th June

1st July - 30th September

1st October - 31st December

A deadline of one month and seven days after the end of each quarter is set for filing the VAT return. For instance, the VAT return covering 1st January - 31st March is due for filing with HMRC by 7th May.

A note on payments on account

If you earn less than 80% of your income from sources where tax is automatically taken out, and your tax bill is over £1,000, you'll have to make advance payments for next year's taxes. These are called "payments on account." You figure out how much you need to pay by dividing the tax and insurance amount from your previous tax bill by two. You need to make two payments: the first by January 31st and the second by July 31st.