what is a self assessment tax return?

[deepak]

I keep hearing about Self Assessment tax returns, but I’m not really sure what they are. Can someone explain what a Self Assessment tax return is, who needs to file it, and why it’s important?

 

[Lucas]

A self-assessment tax return is a form used to report your income and calculate the tax you owe to the government.

 

[robertwilliam]

In the self-assessment tax return system, it has become the responsibility of the taxpayer and not the tax department to compute some or all of their tax liability for a given financial year.

 

[Rick_Grimes]

A self-assessment tax return is basically a way for individuals to report their income and expenses to the tax authority (like HMRC in the UK) when tax isn’t automatically deducted. It’s usually done by self-employed people, freelancers, or those with extra income, so the government knows how much tax you owe (or need refunded).

 

[Gsusangrey]

A self-assessment tax return is a document employed by individuals (such as the self-employed) to declare their earnings, compute their payment of tax and the government levies any outstanding balance of tax.