The Main Return page of the Self Assessment tax return for limited company directors

This article provides a summary of the 'Main Return' page of the Self Assessment tax return in FreeAgent and the relevant information required to complete it if you're a limited company director.

Everyone who files their Self Assessment tax return with FreeAgent needs to complete the 'Main Return' page.

For more information about the 'Main Return' page, speak to your accountant or HMRC, or see HMRC's guidance.

Please note that FreeAgent cannot advise you on how to fill in your tax return correctly, nor can we check your figures to see if they are correct, unless they have been calculated by the software. We are not authorised by HMRC to provide accounting or tax advice. If you are in any doubt as to whether a figure on your tax return is correct, please speak to your accountant or to HMRC. If you don't have an accountant, have a look in our accountant directory for a FreeAgent-friendly accountant.

Personal details

HMRC asks you to provide some personal details at the start of the 'Main Return' page. Complete the required fields and provide your phone number if you're happy for HMRC to contact you by phone.

Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR)

HMRC issues a UTR to everyone who registers for Self Assessment. You will find the number at the top of any letters you receive from HMRC that relate to your personal tax affairs. The UTR number is made up of 10 numerical characters.

Make sure you use your own UTR when you complete your Self Assessment tax return. It can be easy to get multiple numbers mixed up, so it’s a good idea to double-check that you’re not using someone else’s UTR.

Completing the 'Main Return' page

Some of the data on the 'Main Return' page is pre-populated for you based on your records in FreeAgent, but you'll have to fill in other boxes yourself. Many of these boxes are optional but some fields are required; these are indicated with an orange outline. If a box isn't relevant to you and isn't required, just leave it blank.

As you progress through the 'Main Return' page, set the sections that apply to you to ‘Yes’ and complete all the relevant fields. Any sections that remain set to ‘No’ won’t be included in your tax return.

Income

Bank interest received - tax taken off

To expand this section and complete the relevant boxes, answer ‘Yes’ to ‘Did you receive any income from UK interest or dividends?’

When you receive interest on a bank account, this will nearly always be taxed at 20%. The bank pays 20% to HMRC on your behalf and you receive the amount after tax. You should enter any interest that has already had tax deducted from it in box 1.

Bank interest received - no tax taken off

Some bank accounts have gross interest paid into them. This means that no tax is deducted from the payments. You should enter any gross interest payments you’ve received during the tax year into box 2 of the Income section of the 'Main Return' page. You will have to pay tax on this income.

Interest paid tax-free, such as interest on an ISA, is not included on your tax return at all.

Dividend income

This relates to boxes 4-7 of the ‘UK interest and dividends’ area in the ‘Income’ section of the 'Main Return' page.

Box 4 relates to dividends you receive from UK companies. The first field is for dividends you receive from the limited company of which you’re a director. FreeAgent completes this box automatically for you. The second field relates to dividends from shares you hold in other UK companies. FreeAgent adds the figures in the two fields together and displays the total.

If you need to complete boxes 5-7 we recommend that you consult HMRC’s guidance and speak to your accountant if you need further guidance.

State pension received

To expand this section and complete the relevant boxes, answer ‘Yes’ to ‘Did you receive any pensions, annuities or state benefits?’

If you're receiving a state pension, you should record the gross amount from the pension statement that you received from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) at the start of the tax year in box 8. Bear in mind that this won't necessarily be the amount you received in your bank account, as state pension is paid in arrears.

Tax reliefs

Pension contributions paid

To expand this section and complete the relevant boxes, answer ‘Yes’ to ‘Did you contribute to registered pension schemes or overseas pension schemes?’

If your pension contributions are deducted directly from your wages, these wouldn't normally go on your tax return at all, because the tax relief is handled by your pension provider. This is the case regardless of whether the company (your employer) also makes separate contributions to your pension.

However, if your pension provider claims basic rate tax relief for payments to your pension scheme (your provider will be able to tell you if this is the case), you should enter the amount you personally paid into your pension scheme during the tax year in the ‘Money paid into pension schemes’ section. You will find this figure on the pension certificate or receipt that your pension provider gives you each year. Most people can enter this information in box 1 and FreeAgent will then automatically ‘gross this up' to calculate your contributions including tax relief.

However, depending on your circumstances, you might need to enter the figures relating to the money you’ve paid into pension schemes in box 2, 3 or 4 instead. If you're not sure which box to enter your pension contributions into, or what figure to use, please speak to your accountant or to HMRC.

Donations made to charities

To expand this section and complete the relevant boxes, answer ‘Yes’ to ‘Did you contribute to charities?’

If you made donations to charity under Gift Aid during the tax year, you should enter the amount you donated in box 5. Remember to include only the amount that you donated and not the relief the charity will claim.

Incorrectly claimed coronavirus support scheme payments

If you made an error when claiming from an HMRC coronavirus support scheme, for example accidentally applying for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), and you haven’t yet reported the error to HMRC, you'll need to enter the correct figure into the 'Main Return' page. To do this, enter the total amount of SEISS payments that you incorrectly claimed in box 2. 

Marriage allowance

If your income for the tax year that ended on 5th April 2022 was less than £12,570 and your spouse or civil partner’s income was less than £50,270 (or £43,662 for Scottish taxpayers), you can transfer £1,260 of your Personal Allowance to your spouse or civil partner to reduce the amount of tax they pay if all of the following apply:

• you were married to, or in a civil partnership with, the same person for all or part of the tax year
• you were both born on or after 6th April 1935

Alternatively, if the above applies and your income for the tax year that ended on 5th April 2022 was less than £50,270 (or £43,662 for Scottish taxpayers) and your spouse or civil partner's income was less than £12,570, you can receive the marriage allowance in the form of £1,260 of their Personal Allowance.

You can apply for the marriage allowance online and you should make sure your application has been processed by HMRC before you submit your Self Assessment.

If you’ve registered to transfer or receive the allowance, or plan to do so, answer ‘Yes’ in the section shown below.

FreeAgent knows whether you’re either transferring the marriage allowance or receiving it based on your income. If you’re receiving the marriage allowance (and not transferring it), you don’t need to do anything further after selecting ‘Yes’ in the section shown above. If you’re transferring the marriage allowance, you will also be prompted to enter your partner’s details.

Coronavirus support scheme payments

Even if you received coronavirus support scheme payments (such as CJRS), you’ll need to select ‘No’ to box 20.1 on your Self Assessment tax return in FreeAgent. This is because the grants in this case are reported as part of the company’s profits on its tax return, rather than as part of your personal income on your tax return. This applies even if the grants were paid on to you in the form of furlough wages as wages and profits are different kinds of income.