Amending self-assessment tax return

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For various reasons (including a hospital stay/bereavement), I won’t be able to prepare my company accounts before the 31 Jan 2025 self-assessment deadline.

The accounts will show a loss in any event. I have details of my non-business income (benefits) all ready.

Can I submit my SA using just my non-business income figures and then amend the return once the business accounts are drawn up (which will likely result in no change in tax/possibly a small refund)?

I know I’ve had since April 2024 to get the accounts ready but it’s been a hell of a year.

It sounds straightforward to submit an amended return, but does anyone have experience of doing this/dealing with HMRC? I just want to get something in on time as I’ve previously been fined for missing the deadline.

Thanks 🙏🏼

Yes, you can. You can also put provisional figures in and tick a box to say provisional amounts used. That's more useful if there is likely to be tax to pay as otherwise you will have to pay interest on any underpayment. Once you have the actual amounts, you file an amended return (easy to file online if within 12 months of original due date - so by 31 jan 2026).

I submitted an amendment last year as I found an error within a couple of days. V straightforward and no issues arising.

Yes. There’s a box on the form that asks if any of the figures are estimates. Tick that, use your best guess, then simply submit an amendment. As others have said there’s interest to pay on underpayment so best to use a best estimate rather than leave sections blank.

And yes, as you already know don’t miss the deadline to wait for exact figures or you’ll get fined.