Self Assessment Tax Return for Deceased Person

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Self-Assessment Tax Return

Home / Self Assessment Tax Return for Deceased Person

Updated on : 10-Dec-2024 06:48 PM GMT | 4 min read

Tax Returns for Someone Who Has Died

It is important to report a death to HMRC in case you are handling the tax affairs of someone who is no more. In response, HMRC will tell you that whether you need to file self-assessment tax return on behalf of the dead person or not.

Contacting HMRC for Deceased Person Tax Returns?

There is no need to contact HMRC if you are using HMRC’s “Tell us once service”.

In case you are not using it, you need to contact HMRC and tell them about the following –

Death date
Name & address of the contact person
UTR number of the deceased person (mentioned on letters & pay slips from HMRC)
National insurance number of the deceased person
Full address of the deceased person
Last employer or pension provided name & address

HMRC Bereavement Helpline

Call HMRC for help with tax after someone dies.

Telephone: 0300 200 3300

Text phone: 0300 200 3319

Outside UK: +44 135 535 9022

Opening times:

Monday to Friday: 8 AM to 8 PM

Saturday: 8 AM to 4 PM

Closed on Sunday, bank holidays, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

HMRC Deceased Estate Helpline

Get specialist advice on a deceased person’s estate about:

Income Tax
Capital Gains Tax

Telephone: 0300 123 1072

Opening times:

Monday to Friday: 9 AM to 5 PM

Closed on bank holidays (including Scottish bank holidays).

Contact HMRC by Post

Pay As You Earn and Self Assessment

HM Revenue and Customs
BX9 1AS
United Kingdom

You do not need to include a street name or PO box when writing to this address.

Deceased Person’s Self-Assessment Tax Return Filing

In order to fill self-assessment tax return, you generally need to submit the details of the deceased person’s bank & saving account such as –

Bank statement
Building society passbooks
National saving bonds or certificates
Dividend vouchers

In case the deceased individual was employed somewhere or getting pension, you need to submit the following –

Work or pension pay slips
Details of any expenses paid by the employer
Confirmation of any state pension

In case, the deceased person was previously running its own business or rented out property to someone, you need to furnish their business records.

In case you are unable to complete the return of the deceased person or unable to find their records, contact HMRC’s Bereavement helpline number which is mentioned in above paragraph already.

Sending your return

In order to file a return, you need to contact HMRC but you need to wait till the next year after the death of the individual in order to file his or her tax return online. For ex – If an individual died in June 2019, you need to wait till 6th April 2020 in order to file his or her tax return.

Send the return of the deceased person by post

You can send the return of the deceased person by post and for that you don’t have to wait until the end of the tax year to send paper return. Basically, how much time will it take to submit the return depends on the way by which you are sending the return. In case you are facing any difficulty in submitting the tax return, you can take a help from a professional in order to submit tax return on behalf of the deceased person.

Telling HMRC about the administration period

In case you are an executor or administrator of an estate, you must send information about the “administration period” to HMRC. Administration period is basically a time period between the day after someone’s death and the date on which the assets distribution is finalized and the estate is settled. What you actually send to HMRC depends upon estate size and money received by you from it during the administration period.

Eligibility of sending a tax return for administration period

You can send a trust & estate tax return for the administration period to HMRC, if you will satisfy any of the conditions mentioned below –

The estate value should be more than £2.5 million on the date of death
The total income tax and capital gains tax due for the administration period should be more than £10000
When date of death was before 6th April 2016 and more than £250000 annually came from the sale of estate’s assets by administrators or executors.
When date of death was on or before 6th April 2016 and more than £500000 annually came from the sale of estate’s assets by administrators or executors.

The trust & estate return is only for the estate. It is different from the return you are sending to HMRC on behalf of the deceased person.

Sending the Estate Tax Return

In order to send estate tax return, you must register the estate online by 5th October. For ex – If you are submitting a return for 2018-19 tax year i.e. 6th April 2018 – 5th April 2019, you must register by 5th October 2019. In order to register an estate, you need the following –

The government gateway user ID – registration as organization (separate from the account you are using as an individual)
National insurance number (Not a temporary reference number)

Separate ID for each estate registration

After registering the estate online, a unique taxpayer reference number is sent to you via post within 15 working days (in case of abroad, it is 21 days). UTR number is necessary to send tax returns. After receiving the UTR number, you have to fill –

Paper form SA900 and submit to HMRC by 31st October after the completion of the tax year. Or
Send your tax return electronically to HMRC by 31st January after the completion of the tax year.

After receiving the return, HMRC tells you how much estate tax you need to pay.

If you do not need to send a tax return

If you do not need to send a tax return, “Make informal arrangements” instead and write HMRC to tell them about the following things –

Income tax & capital gain due for the administration period
Name & address of the deceased person
National insurance number of the deceased person
UTR of the deceased person
You name & contact details

Send these details to HMRC’s address for PAYE & self-assessment. Kindly don’t send tax payments with this information. A payment slip & reference number will also provided to you so that you can use it at the time of paying tax.