Relaxation of Self-Assessment Threshold: What We Know So Far

HMRC has promised a change to the threshold at which self-employed taxpayers need to complete a tax return, meaning fewer people will have to file. But as always with tax changes, the devil is in the detail. Here’s what we know so far.

What’s changing?

Right now, if you’re self-employed and your trading income exceeds £1,000 in a tax year, you must file a self-assessment tax return—even if you don’t owe any tax. HMRC has now confirmed that this threshold will rise to £3,000. This could remove the requirement for up to 300,000 self-employed individuals to complete tax returns each year.

When will the threshold increase?

There’s no firm date yet, just a vague assurance from the government that it will happen “within this parliament,” meaning it should be in place before the next general election.

Until a specific implementation date is confirmed, anyone earning over £1,000 still needs to submit their tax return as usual.

What does this mean for the Self-Employed?

The threshold applies to gross income—your total earnings before any expenses are deducted. That means some people who fall within the new limit may still owe tax. HMRC has floated the idea of a “simple” online system to collect tax from those who are affected, but they haven’t yet provided any details on how this will work.

What’s next?

We’re waiting on HMRC to fill in the blanks. How will they collect tax from those who no longer need to file a return? What will the new online system look like? Will this actually simplify things, or just shift the burden elsewhere?

On the surface, this is a welcome move that will save time for many small-scale self-employed earners. But until we see the full details, there’s always a risk of added complexity elsewhere in the system. We’ll be keeping a close eye on developments and will update you as soon as we know more.