Online Self Assessment filing for PAYE code collection closes on 30 December 2026

30 December 2026 is the deadline to file the online Self Assessment return for 2025 to 2026 if you want tax owed collected through your 2027 to 2028 PAYE code. Filing later does not remove the tax, it removes the payroll route to paying it.

This is an option rather than an obligation. The return has its own later filing date, and this date only governs how the tax is collected. The paper route for the same tax year closed on 31 October 2026, so December is an online-only date.

People who want the tax taken through payroll

Directors and employees with a side trade or rental income who prefer to pay through payroll. Anyone content to pay the bill directly is not held to this date.

Filing early enough to use the PAYE route

• Decide whether you want the tax owed collected through your 2027 to 2028 PAYE code.
• If so, get the 2025 to 2026 figures together in time to file online by 30 December 2026.
• File the return online rather than on paper, which closed on 31 October.
• Check the 2027 to 2028 code when it arrives to see the collection has been applied.
• Keep the filing confirmation so the coding change can be traced if it does not appear.

Where the MTD ITSA system fits

The PAYE collection option belongs to Self Assessment, which Making Tax Digital for income tax now governs.

Verified 19 August 2026.

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