Double tax bill could be facing UK’s self-employed

A quarter of the UK’s self employed workers could be facing a double tax bill this January, new research has revealed.

With less than two weeks until the Self Assessment tax deadline on 31 January, research from software developer Intuit QuickBooks highlighted that those who deferred their 2019/2020 payments due to coronavirus will owe double this month – which could equate to three million people.  

The findings, based on responses from a nationally representative sample of 1,100 UK sole traders in December, indicated that 12.1 million people in the UK are expected to file a Self Assessment return this year.

Intuit QuickBooks, however, found that over a quarter of sole traders (26%) said they will find it harder to pay their tax bill this year due to the financial impact of the pandemic.

Another 21% said they are less confident about completing their return accurately because of the inclusion of COVID-19 grants.

“Sole traders and self-employed individuals have never faced such challenging circumstances and with other areas requiring focus, the burden of admin can be an unnecessary drain on time and resources,” commented Intuit QuickBooks head of product compliance, Pauline Green.
 
“Today’s findings reveal that less than a third of sole traders are confident they know where they’ve kept their records.”

    Share Story:

Recent Stories


FREE E-NEWS SIGN UP

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive breaking news and other industry announcements by email.

  Please tick here to confirm you are happy to receive third party promotions from carefully selected partners.


NEW BUILD IN FOCUS - NEW EPISODE OF THE MORTGAGE INSIDER PODCAST, OUT NOW
Figures from the National House-Building Council saw Q1 2025 register a 36% increase in new homes built across the UK compared with the same period last year, representing a striking development for the first-time buyer market. But with the higher cost of building, ongoing planning challenges and new and changing regulations, how sustainable is this growth? And what does it mean for brokers?

The role of the bridging market and technology usage in the industry
Content editor, Dan McGrath, sat down with chief operating officer at Black & White Bridging, Damien Druce, and head of development finance at Empire Global Finance, Pete Williams, to explore the role of the bridging sector, the role of AI across the industry and how the property market has fared in the Labour Government’s first year in office.


Does the North-South divide still exist in the UK housing market?
What do the most expensive parts of the country reveal about shifting demand? And why is the Manchester housing market now outperforming many southern counterparts?



In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance, to explore how regional trends are redefining the UK housing, mortgage and buy-to-let markets.

The new episode of The Mortgage Insider podcast, out now
Regional housing markets now matter more than ever. While London and the Southeast still tend to dominate the headlines from a house price and affordability perspective, much of the growth in rental yields and buyer demand is coming from other parts of the UK.

In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance.