How to download your SA302 and Tax Year Overview for a mortgage

If you’re self-employed and applying for a mortgage, you’ll usually be asked to provide evidence of your income from HMRC. The two documents most commonly requested by mortgage lenders are your SA302 Tax Calculation and Tax Year Overview, usually covering the latest two tax years.

Although they’re often requested together, they are two separate documents. Your SA302 shows the income you declared on your Self Assessment tax return and how your tax has been calculated, while the Tax Year Overview shows the tax due to HMRC for that year and the payments made. Mortgage lenders will often ask for both so they can cross-reference the figures when assessing your self-employed income.

In some cases, we may also need a copy of your full tax return (SA100), but the SA302 and Tax Year Overview are the documents you’ll most commonly be asked to provide.

What if my accountant submitted my tax return?

If your accountant submitted your Self Assessment tax return using their own accounting software, you may find that you can download the Tax Year Overview from your HMRC online account but not the corresponding SA302.

If this happens, don’t worry. Your accountant should be able to provide the equivalent Tax Calculation/SA302 produced by their software, and you may already have been sent a copy when your tax return was completed. Most mortgage lenders will accept an accountant-produced Tax Calculation alongside the HMRC Tax Year Overview, subject to their individual requirements.

Below are the steps for downloading the documents available through your HMRC online account. Download SA302 Tax Calculation

* Go to HMRC SA302 page - https://www.gov.uk/sa302-tax-calculation

* Log in with your Government Gateway credentials

* Click Self Assessment

* Scroll down to Previously filed returns

* Click the most recent tax year

* Find the two most recent tax years

* Click 'Get your SA302 tax calculation'

* Click 'Continue to your SA302'

* Click 'View/print/save your return'

* Click 'View PDF' and save/print

Download Tax Year Overview

* Go to HMRC SA302 page - https://www.gov.uk/sa302-tax-calculation

* Log in with your Government Gateway credentials

* Click Self Assessment

* Scroll down to Previously filed returns

* Click the most recent tax year

* Find the two most recent tax years

* Click 'View your tax year overview'

* Click 'Print your tax year overview'

* Click 'View PDF' and save/print

Which tax years do I need for a mortgage?

Most mortgage lenders will ask for your latest two years’ SA302 Tax Calculations and Tax Year Overviews, although the exact requirements will depend on the lender and your individual circumstances. Some lenders may ask for three years, while others can consider an application with only one year of self-employed accounts or tax returns.

If you have only been self-employed for one year, this doesn’t necessarily mean you need to wait until you have two or three years of accounts before applying for a mortgage. There are lenders who will consider applicants with just one full year of self-employed trading, particularly where there is a strong track record in the same profession or industry before becoming self-employed. The right approach will depend on how the business is structured, your previous employment or experience, the income shown in your first year and the overall circumstances of the application.

How recent do my accounts need to be?

Mortgage lenders will also consider how old your latest accounts or tax return are. As a general guide, lenders will often want the latest accounting period to have ended within the last 18 months, although individual lender criteria vary and some will require more recent figures.

Depending on the nature of the business, how long you have been trading and the circumstances of the application, a lender may also ask for recent business bank statements. These can help demonstrate that the business is continuing to trade and that its more recent performance is broadly consistent with the income being used for the mortgage application.

If you only have one year’s accounts, have recently become self-employed, or aren’t sure which documents you need, it’s worth checking before submitting a mortgage application. Different lenders take very different approaches to self-employed income, so having a shorter trading history doesn’t automatically prevent you from getting a mortgage.