4 min read
VAT: the two thresholds
You must register for VAT once your VAT taxable turnover goes over £90,000 in any rolling 12 month period, or if you expect to go over it in the next 30 days alone. It is a rolling figure, not your accounting year, which catches people out after a strong few months.
If you are already registered you can apply to deregister when turnover falls below £88,000. Both thresholds were left unchanged at the Autumn 2025 Budget. The calculators page in your dashboard works this out from a turnover figure.
Registering is not automatically bad. If you work mainly for other VAT registered businesses, they reclaim the VAT and you reclaim yours on materials and the van. If you work mainly for householders, registering effectively puts your prices up 20 percent overnight, so plan for it before you cross the line rather than after.
Self Assessment: the dates
- 5 October after the end of the tax year: register, if this is your first return
- 31 October: deadline for a paper return
- 31 January: deadline for the online return, and for paying what you owe
- 31 January and 31 July: payments on account, if you owe them
The tax year runs 6 April to 5 April. For the 2025 to 2026 tax year, the online return and payment are due by 31 January 2027.
Payments on account are the part people are least ready for. If your bill is over £1,000 and less than 80 percent of your tax was collected at source, HMRC asks for half of this year's bill again in January and the other half in July, on account of next year. A first January after a good year can therefore be around 150 percent of what you expected.
Making Tax Digital has already started
From 6 April 2026, sole traders and landlords with qualifying income above £50,000 must keep digital records, use compatible software and send HMRC quarterly updates instead of filing once a year. The threshold drops to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028. Qualifying income is gross self-employment and property income before expenses, so the figure that counts is bigger than your profit.
This is general information, not tax advice. An accountant will pay for themselves the first time payments on account land.