This article is for general information only. It does not constitute tax, accounting or regulated mortgage advice. Mortgages are subject to status, affordability and lender criteria. Finance 4 Homes Ltd is an Appointed Representative of Beneficial Ltd. Beneficial Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
The tax year ends on 5 April each year, with the new tax year beginning on 6 April. The current 2026/27 tax year therefore runs from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027.
Knowing when the tax year ends is particularly useful if you complete Self Assessment, receive income from different sources or are self-employed and preparing for a mortgage application. One important distinction is that 5 April is the end of the tax year, not the deadline for submitting most tax returns. Filing and payment deadlines normally come later.
When does the tax year end each year?
For personal Income Tax purposes, the tax year follows the same pattern each year: it begins on 6 April and finishes on 5 April the following year.
| Tax year | Starts | Ends |
| 2025/26 | 6 April 2025 | 5 April 2026 |
| 2026/27 | 6 April 2026 | 5 April 2027 |
| 2027/28 | 6 April 2027 | 5 April 2028 |
The dates determine which tax year particular income falls into.
If all your income is taxed through PAYE, you may have very little to do personally when 5 April passes. The date becomes more relevant if you are self-employed or have income that needs to be reported separately to HMRC.
Why does the end of the tax year matter?
For somebody completing Self Assessment, 5 April closes the period covered by the next tax return.
It is therefore a useful point to make sure your records for the year are complete. Depending on your circumstances, that could mean:
- checking income received during the year;
- organising invoices and receipts;
- reviewing relevant business expenses;
- gathering information about savings, dividends or rental income;
- preparing records for an accountant; and
- organising income evidence if you expect to apply for a mortgage.
You do not normally need to submit everything on 5 April itself. The tax-year end establishes the reporting period. Filing and payment deadlines follow later.
What happens after the tax year ends?
Once the year has closed, you can start finalising the information needed for Self Assessment if you are required to submit a return.
Preparing your records soon after 5 April gives you more time to identify missing figures or documents before the relevant filing deadline.
Bring your records together
The information you need depends on how you earn your income.
Records may include:
- self-employed income and expenses;
- employment income;
- savings or investment income;
- dividends;
- rental income; and
- other taxable income that needs to be declared.
There is no single checklist that applies to everyone, so the records another taxpayer needs may be different from yours.
Check whether you need Self Assessment
Not everybody needs to submit a tax return.
HMRC’s guidance on who must send a Self Assessment tax return includes people who were self-employed as sole traders and earned more than £1,000 before deductible expenses, partners in business partnerships and people with certain other taxable or untaxed income.
If you are unsure whether a return is required, check the rules that apply to your circumstances rather than assuming that a particular type of employment or income automatically gives you the answer.
Prepare your return when your figures are ready
You do not normally need to wait until January to submit an online return.
Filing before the deadline can show you how much tax is due sooner, giving you more time to prepare for the payment.
For a self-employed mortgage applicant, submitting the relevant return may also make a more recent SA302 tax calculation and tax year overview available.
When is the Self Assessment deadline?
The tax-year end and Self Assessment filing deadline are separate dates.
For the 2025/26 tax year, which ended on 5 April 2026, the standard deadlines include:
| Date | What it means |
| 5 April 2026 | 2025/26 tax year ended |
| 5 October 2026 | Deadline to tell HMRC in certain circumstances that you need to complete a return |
| 31 October 2026 | Standard deadline for paper tax returns |
| 31 January 2027 | Standard deadline for online tax returns |
| 31 January 2027 | Standard deadline for paying Self Assessment tax due |
| 31 July 2027 | Second payment on account, where applicable |
HMRC’s current Self Assessment deadline guidance sets out these dates and the circumstances in which different deadlines can apply.
If HMRC has issued you with a different filing date, follow the deadline that applies to your own return.
Is the tax year the same as the financial year?
Not necessarily.
Several different annual periods are used for tax, accounting and business purposes.
| Term | What it generally means |
| Tax year | 6 April to 5 April for personal Income Tax |
| Calendar year | 1 January to 31 December |
| Company financial year | The accounting period used for company reporting |
| Accounting period | The period covered by a set of business accounts |
A business accounting period can therefore differ from the personal tax year.
For self-employed people, the tax-year basis rules determine which business profits are taxed in each tax year. If your accounts do not run to 31 March or 5 April, calculating the relevant taxable profit can involve apportioning figures between accounting periods. In more complex cases, professional tax advice may be appropriate.
The basic personal tax-year dates remain the same: 6 April to 5 April.
Why can the tax year matter when applying for a mortgage?
For self-employed applicants, the tax year can matter because lenders will usually need evidence to support the income shown on a mortgage application.
What they request depends on the lender and the individual case. Documents can include accounts, bank statements, tax calculations and tax year overviews.
HMRC confirms that an SA302 tax calculation can be used as evidence of earnings and may be requested when a self-employed person applies for a mortgage.
An SA302 does not become available simply because the tax year has ended. Once the relevant Self Assessment return has been submitted, you may be able to access a more recent tax calculation and tax year overview.
The documents required are lender-specific, so an SA302 or tax year overview should not be assumed to satisfy every lender’s evidence requirements.
Depending on the lender, factors such as how long you have been trading, whether you operate as a sole trader, partnership or limited company, how you receive your income and what documentation is available may all affect how the application is assessed.
When considering a self-employed application, we look at those circumstances alongside the documents you can provide and the criteria used by different lenders. Our self-employed mortgages guidance explains the factors we consider and how the process can differ from a standard employed application.
Should you wait until the tax year ends before applying for a mortgage?
Not automatically.
The end of another tax year may affect the income evidence available, but whether that changes a mortgage application depends on the return being filed, the resulting figures and the lender’s requirements.
Before deciding when to apply, it can help to consider:
- What income evidence is already available?
- Will the newly completed tax year materially change your reported income?
- When will your latest return and supporting documents be ready?
- What evidence might the lender require for your circumstances?
- Is there another reason the application needs to proceed sooner?
You may already have sufficient trading history and documentation, or you may be approaching the end of an existing mortgage deal.
The relevant question is therefore not simply whether 5 April has passed. It is whether the completed tax year and subsequent filing change the income evidence available for the application.
If you are buying, moving home or reviewing an existing deal, our mortgages and remortgages guidance explains how we approach different mortgage circumstances.
Common tax-year-end misunderstandings
A few points are particularly easy to confuse:
- The personal tax year does not end on 31 March. It ends on 5 April.
- You do not normally need to submit a Self Assessment return on 5 April. The filing deadline comes later.
- Not everybody needs to complete Self Assessment. Whether you do depends on your circumstances.
- A company’s financial year is not necessarily the same as the personal tax year.
- Tax-year end is not automatically a mortgage application deadline. What matters is whether the completed year and subsequent filing change the income evidence available.
What to remember about the tax year end
The tax year ends on 5 April every year, with the next tax year beginning on 6 April. For the current 2026/27 tax year, the final day is 5 April 2027.
If you complete Self Assessment, keep that date separate from your filing and payment deadlines. Organising your records once the year has closed can make it easier to prepare your return and identify anything that is missing.
For self-employed mortgage applicants, filing a return after another completed tax year may provide more recent evidence of earnings. Whether that affects an application depends on your figures, the documents available and the lender’s criteria.
If you would like to understand how your latest income evidence could be considered as part of a mortgage application, contact Finance 4 Homes to discuss your circumstances.
You may be charged a fee for mortgage advice which could be up to 1% of the loan. The precise amount will depend on your circumstances, but we estimate it to be 0.75% of the loan amount. These are illustrative estimates. Your actual fee may differ depending on your circumstances, complexity, credit history and lender requirements.
Not all applicants will qualify. Mortgage products, interest rates and borrowing amounts depend on individual circumstances and lender criteria.
Finance 4 Homes Ltd is an Appointed Representative of Beneficial Ltd. Beneficial Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. This information is for general guidance and relates to the UK consumer mortgage market.
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