Self Assessment: the GOV.UK facts and what Soopaspace records

Deadlines, as GOV.UK states them

From GOV.UK's Self Assessment deadlines page:

• "You must tell HMRC by 5 October if you need to complete a tax return for the previous year."
• "HMRC must receive your paper tax return by 11:59pm on 31 October 2026 or you'll get a late filing penalty."
• "You must submit your online tax return by 11:59pm on 31 January 2027 or you'll get a late filing penalty."
• "You need to pay your Self Assessment tax by 11:59pm on 31 January 2027 or you'll get a penalty."
• GOV.UK says there is "a second payment deadline of 31 July if you make payments towards your bill", known as payments on account.

The trading allowance, as GOV.UK states it

GOV.UK describes a trading allowance of "up to £1,000 a year". It says: "If your annual gross income from these is £1,000 or less, you do not need to tell HMRC, unless: you cannot use the allowances [or] you must register for Self Assessment". It defines gross income as "the total amount you would put on your tax return before any allowances or expenses are taken off."

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, as GOV.UK states it

GOV.UK sets out qualifying income thresholds:

• "£50,000 for the 2024 to 2025 tax year, you should've started using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2026"
• "£30,000 for the 2025 to 2026 tax year, you will need to use it from 6 April 2027"
• "£20,000 for the 2026 to 2027 tax year, you will need to use it from 6 April 2028"

Expenses and records, as GOV.UK states them

GOV.UK says:

• On expenses: "You can deduct these costs to work out your taxable profit before paying Income Tax as long as they're allowable expenses."
• And: "You cannot claim expenses if you use your £1,000 tax-free 'trading allowance'."
• On records: "You must keep records of your business income and expenses for your Self Assessment tax return if you're a sole trader [or] partner in a business partnership."

What Soopaspace records

On the paid plan, Soopaspace keeps these as you go:

• Income, recorded automatically from paid bookings, bundles, gift vouchers and paid invoices
• Expenses you log, each in one of ten categories: Equipment & tools, Stock & materials, Travel & motoring, Premises & venue hire, Marketing & advertising, Training & development, Insurance, Phone & internet, Professional & financial, and Other
• A receipt image attached to an expense, if you add one
• Business trips, logged as mileage and saved as a travel expense at HMRC’s simplified rate: 55p a mile for the 2026/27 tax year (45p before 6 April 2026), then 25p a mile after 10,000 miles in the tax year

How Soopaspace counts income

The Tax year summary counts money you were actually paid, not work you have done and not yet been paid for. A session paid by card online counts on the day it was paid, and one paid by cash or transfer on the day of the session; bundles and gift vouchers on the day they were bought. A paid invoice counts on the date of the work, or the date it was paid if no work date is set.

Seeing and exporting it

The Tax year summary, in Finance, shows a UK tax year (6 April to 5 April) with your income, your expenses by category and the totals. If you have switched on I'm VAT registered, it also shows the VAT collected and income excluding VAT. Ways to take the figures out:

• Download, on the Tax year summary, for a CSV of that year
• Export CSV, on the Expenses page
• Send to your accounting software: a CSV of your income set out to import into Xero, QuickBooks or FreeAgent

What Soopaspace does not do

Soopaspace does not file your Self Assessment return, send anything to HMRC, or tell you which expenses are allowable or what you owe.