Self Assessment · If you are on a direct scheme
Your tax runs through a direct payment scheme. Do you need a tax return?
Short answer: you probably do. And the deadline that catches people is not the one everybody quotes.
Short answer: you probably do. And the deadline that catches people is not the one everybody quotes.
If you are employed by a company abroad that has no UK entity, your income tax and National Insurance do not reach HMRC the way they do for most people. There is no UK employer running a payroll and deducting tax before you are paid. Instead the tax sits with you, through a direct payment scheme set up in your own name.
That arrangement has a consequence people are rarely told about when the scheme is opened. You almost certainly need to file a Self Assessment return. And the date that catches people out is not the one they have heard of.
Tell HMRC you need to file at all. This one applies only if you have never filed before. For the tax year that ran from 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026, it is 5 October 2026.
Telling HMRC is a separate step from filing. You register, HMRC issues you a Unique Taxpayer Reference, and only then can you file. The reference takes time to arrive, which is the real reason the deadline sits four months ahead of the filing date.
File the return and pay the tax. This is the one most people know, and for the 2025/26 tax year it is 31 January 2027.
It applies every year you are in Self Assessment, not just the first. Our guide to a first Self Assessment walks through what goes on the return itself.
Here is where a lot of what you will read online is simply wrong.
The £100 penalty everyone quotes is for filing late, not for registering late.
It applies if your return is still outstanding after 31 January.
Missing 5 October triggers something different, a failure to notify penalty, and it is calculated on the tax still unpaid at 31 January. So if you register in November, file on time and pay on time, the amount it is calculated on can be nothing at all.
That is not a reason to ignore the date. Leaving it late compresses everything, and if the reference does not arrive before January you have a genuine problem. But if you are reading this in October having missed it, the honest answer is that you are late rather than in trouble, and the thing that matters now is getting the return filed and the tax paid by 31 January.
You get a payslip each month showing tax and National Insurance deducted. It looks exactly like ordinary UK employment, so the idea that you also have a personal filing obligation does not occur to anyone. If the payslip itself is unfamiliar, our guide to payslip abbreviations reads one line by line.
The employer is abroad and often has no idea UK personal tax filing exists. A UK accountant would normally raise it, but most people in this position do not have one, because they think of themselves as an employee rather than as someone with their own tax affairs. Our guide for employees on a direct scheme covers the rest of what lands on you.
If your tax runs through a scheme in your own name and you have not filed a UK return before, register before 5 October. It is a short online process and the only thing it commits you to is filing.
If you already file, nothing changes and the 5 October date does not apply to you.
If you are not certain which applies, that is worth ten minutes with someone who deals with these schemes, because the answer depends on your specific arrangement rather than on a general rule.
| What | When, for the 2025/26 tax year |
|---|---|
| Tell HMRC you need to file, if you have never filed before | 5 October 2026 |
| File the return for 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026 | 31 January 2027 |
| Pay the tax for that year | 31 January 2027 |
Those are the dates for the tax year that has just ended. They move on by a year each April, so check the year you are filing for rather than carrying these forward. The rates and thresholds page carries the current year figures, and our Self Assessment service sets out what we charge to do the return for you.
A direct payment scheme and the personal tax return are two separate jobs. Running the scheme is monthly and mechanical. The return is annual and looks at your whole position, including anything outside the employment. Plenty of people have the first handled and assume the second is covered by it. It is not. If you want the scheme itself run for you, that is DPNI scheme setup.
Usually yes. Your tax is not being collected by an employer's payroll in the ordinary way, so HMRC generally expects a return. The position depends on your particular arrangement, so confirm it rather than assume it. The difference between the scheme types is set out in DPNI compared with DCNI.
It is the date by which you must tell HMRC you need to file, if you have not filed before. For the 2025/26 tax year it is 5 October 2026. It is separate from the 31 January filing deadline.
No. The £100 is for filing your return late, after 31 January. Missing 5 October triggers a failure to notify penalty, which is calculated on the tax still unpaid at 31 January.
Register as soon as you can, then file and pay by 31 January. The failure to notify penalty is based on what is still owed at that point, so paying on time reduces or removes it.
This page is general information, not tax, legal or employment advice. The dates given are those for the 2025/26 tax year, the year being filed in January 2027, and they move on by a year each April. Your own position may differ, so please check it or get advice before acting.
Tell us who you work for, where they are based and whether you have filed a UK return before. We will tell you plainly whether 5 October applies to you. Within one UK business day.
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