Accounting

Company formation & filings

UTR registration

The Unique Taxpayer Reference is the ten-digit number HMRC issues when an individual registers for Self Assessment, and it is the key to everything that follows: filing returns, making payments, appointing an agent, verifying as a subcontractor under the Construction Industry Scheme and seeing your record in the personal tax account. Registration is required by 5 October following the end of the tax year in which you first needed to file, whether because you started self-employment with income over £1,000, became a partner, began letting property with profit over £2,500, started receiving dividends over the allowance, crossed £150,000 of income or became liable to the High Income Child Benefit charge. HMRC posts the UTR within about ten working days and will not accept a return without it.

£29 · fixed, one-off

Next deadlines

  • CIS monthly return and deduction statements to subcontractors
  • CIS monthly return and deduction statements to subcontractors
  • CIS monthly return and deduction statements to subcontractors
  • Online Self Assessment filing deadline and balancing payment due

Fees

Packages, fixed and published

£29

Self Assessment registration (UTR)

£69

UTR + CIS registration together

£25

Lost UTR recovered

Who this is for

UTR Registration

People across the UK starting self-employment or a side business, new subcontractors in construction, landlords whose rental profit now exceeds £2,500, new partners in a partnership, company directors who need to report dividends, higher earners over £100,000 or with the High Income Child Benefit charge, and anyone who filed years ago and has lost their reference.

What is included

Inside the fixed fee

  • Your obligation to register confirmed, with the 5 October deadline and the right registration route identified
  • Online registration for Self Assessment as self-employed, a partner, a landlord or for other untaxed income
  • Unique Taxpayer Reference issued by HMRC and your Government Gateway and personal tax account linked
  • CIS subcontractor registration made at the same time in the £69 package, so deductions are 20% not 30%
  • Lost or forgotten UTR recovered from HMRC in the £25 service
  • A note of what to keep and when the first return and payment will be due

In detail

How utr registration works

Our £29 registration service confirms that you need to register and on what basis, makes the online application through the correct route for your circumstances, sets up and verifies your Government Gateway account and links the UTR to it when it arrives, and sends you a one-page note of what records to keep and when the first return and payment will be due. HMRC charges nothing. The route matters: self-employment, partnership, property income and other untaxed income are registered differently, and the self-employment route also registers you for Class 2 National Insurance credits, which protect your State Pension record.

Construction subcontractors need a second registration at the same time. Contractors must verify each subcontractor with HMRC before paying them, and the result determines the deduction from the labour element of every invoice: 20% for a registered subcontractor, 30% for an unregistered one. The 10% difference is cash the subcontractor only recovers at the year end through their return. CIS registration requires the UTR, so a subcontractor who registers for Self Assessment and then waits for the UTR before registering for CIS loses weeks of deductions at 30%. Our £69 package registers both together and sequences them so the CIS registration follows the UTR immediately, and our CIS tax returns service at £149 reclaims the deductions at year end.

People who have filed before and cannot find their UTR should not register again. A second reference creates two records at HMRC, duplicate demands, misallocated payments and penalties for returns HMRC thinks are missing, and takes years to untangle. The UTR appears on any previous return, HMRC letter or payment reminder and in the personal tax account online; where none of those is available, we recover it from HMRC with your authority for £25. Directors are not automatically required to register, contrary to older guidance, but almost every director who takes dividends above the £500 allowance needs to, and we register them under the correct criterion.

Partnerships register twice: the partnership itself receives a UTR and files a partnership return through its nominated partner, and each partner registers individually and files their own return showing their share. We register the partnership and all partners together for a fixed fee based on the number of partners. For everyone, the first return and any tax are due online by 31 January following the end of the first tax year, with payments on account starting then if the bill exceeds £1,000 and less than 80% of tax is collected at source. Everything is online and nothing is submitted to HMRC until you approve it.

Process

From first message to filed

  1. Tell us your situation

    A short message or call about what you do and what needs filing. We ask the questions that determine the right package and nothing more.

  2. Fixed fee in writing

    You receive one price for the work, confirmed by email before anything starts. It does not change if the job takes longer than we expected.

  3. Send records, review the draft

    Records come by WhatsApp or email. We prepare the draft, explain the figures in plain English and answer your questions.

  4. We file, you get the receipts

    Once you approve and the fee is settled, we submit electronically and forward the HMRC or Companies House acknowledgement the same day.

Worth knowing

Rules that come up in this work

Switching accountants

The main reasons people switch accountant are surprise invoices, missed deadlines and not understanding what they are being told. Switching involves a clearance letter between the firms, a transfer of records and agent authorisations, and a short handover of the current position. It takes about two weeks and should cost nothing extra.

Closing a company

Striking off a company is cheap but must be done in order: stop trading, file the final accounts and CT600, pay the tax, close VAT and PAYE, distribute the remaining assets, close the bank account, then apply. Anything left in the company at dissolution passes to the Crown. Distributions up to £25,000 are taxed as capital gains; above that a formal liquidation is usually needed to keep capital treatment.

Record keeping

Good records are the difference between a quick enquiry and a long one. For the self-employed, five years after the filing deadline; for companies, six years from the year end; for VAT, six years. Photographs of receipts, PDF statements and software exports all count. The requirement is to keep records, not paper, and a well-organised cloud folder satisfies it.

Allowable expenses

An expense is allowable against trading profit if it is incurred wholly and exclusively for the business. Materials, business travel other than ordinary commuting, a proportion of home running costs, software, insurance, professional fees, bank charges and protective clothing qualify. Client entertainment, ordinary clothing, fines and the private share of mixed-use costs do not.

Crypto records and reporting

Most crypto holders have taxable events they do not recognise, because every swap is a disposal even when no pounds change hands. The computation requires the complete transaction history from every exchange and wallet, pooled by asset with HMRC's matching rules applied. Exchange-generated tax reports are frequently wrong because they cannot see transfers between a user's own wallets.

The 60-day property CGT return

Since April 2020 a gain on UK residential property must be reported and the tax paid within 60 days of completion through HMRC's dedicated service, separately from the annual return. Non-residents must report all UK land disposals in the same window whether or not tax is due. Getting the computation right first time matters because the figure is then carried into the Self Assessment.

Dormant companies

A dormant company is one with no significant accounting transactions in the year, where the only permitted entries are the payment for shares on incorporation, Companies House fees and penalties. It still files a confirmation statement and simplified dormant accounts every year. A bank charge or an accountant's fee paid from the company ends dormancy and requires full accounts.

Questions

UTR Registration: your questions answered

What is a UTR?

A ten-digit Unique Taxpayer Reference issued by HMRC when you register for Self Assessment. It identifies you on every return, payment and piece of correspondence, and is needed for CIS verification and to appoint an agent. Companies have a separate UTR for Corporation Tax. Once issued, your personal UTR is yours for life.

When do I have to register?

By 5 October following the end of the tax year in which you first needed to file. If you started self-employment in June 2026, the tax year ends 5 April 2027 and you must register by 5 October 2027. Registering late risks a failure-to-notify penalty if tax is due, so earlier is better.

How long does it take to get a UTR?

HMRC usually posts the UTR within ten working days of an online registration, sometimes up to three weeks in busy periods. You then receive an activation code for the online account separately. If your first return deadline is close, register immediately; HMRC will not accept a return without the UTR.

What does the service cost?

Self Assessment registration is £29. Self Assessment and CIS registration together is £69. Recovering a lost UTR is £25. HMRC charges nothing for any of these. The fee is fixed and agreed before we start.

Who needs to register for Self Assessment?

The self-employed with income over £1,000, partners in a partnership, landlords with rental profit over £2,500 or gross rent over £10,000, people with income over £150,000, those owing the High Income Child Benefit charge, people with untaxed income such as dividends over the allowance or foreign income, and anyone HMRC tells to file.

Why do subcontractors need CIS registration as well?

Contractors verify each subcontractor with HMRC before paying them. A registered subcontractor has 20% deducted from the labour element of their invoices; an unregistered one has 30% deducted. The difference is cash flow you only get back at the year end. CIS registration requires a UTR, which is why we do both together.

I filed before and cannot find my UTR. What now?

It is on any previous return, HMRC letter or payment reminder, and in your personal tax account online. If you have none of those, we recover it from HMRC on your behalf with your authority, for £25. Do not register again; a second UTR causes years of confusion.

Do I need a Government Gateway account?

Yes, to file online and to see your personal tax account. We set it up as part of registration and link your UTR to it. You need a UK passport, driving licence or other identity evidence for the verification step, which HMRC has made stricter in recent years.

What if I am a director? Do I need a UTR?

Not automatically. Directors only need to register if they have untaxed income to report, such as dividends over the £500 allowance, or meet another criterion. HMRC no longer requires all directors to file. If you take dividends from your company, you almost certainly need to register.

Can I register a partnership?

Yes. The partnership itself registers and receives its own UTR, and each partner registers individually. The nominated partner files the partnership return and each partner files their own. We register the partnership and all partners together at a fixed fee quoted for the number of partners.

What records should I start keeping?

Invoices or records of all income, receipts for all business expenses, bank statements, mileage logs if you use a vehicle, and any deduction statements if you are in CIS. Keep them for at least five years after the 31 January filing deadline. Photos and PDFs are fine. We send a one-page guide with the registration.

When will my first return and payment be due?

The return for the tax year in which you started is due online by 31 January following the end of that tax year, with any tax due on the same date. If you started in June 2026, your first return and payment are due by 31 January 2028. Payments on account may also start then if your bill exceeds £1,000.

Where

A national service

UTR Registration is a Companies House or HMRC filing that works identically wherever your business is based, so it has one page for the whole United Kingdom rather than a page for each town. The process, the fee and the turnaround are the same for a company in Belfast, Glasgow, Cardiff or London. England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland: all covered.

Related

Other services in company formation & filings

Get utr registration for a fixed fee

Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.

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