Taxes Management Act 1970 section 12D

Returns made otherwise than pursuant to a notice

Section 12D deals with what happens when a person files a self-assessment tax return without having first been asked to do so by HMRC, and how that return is treated for tax purposes.

• Where a person submits a personal, trustee or partnership return without having received a notice from HMRC requiring them to do so, HMRC may choose to treat it as a valid return
• If HMRC does treat it as valid, a notice is deemed to have been issued on the date the return was delivered, and the return is treated as having been made in response to that notice
• A "purported return" is anything submitted in the correct form and manner that holds itself out as a tax return under the relevant provisions, even though no notice was issued
• This section does not override the normal time limits for making or delivering assessments to income tax or capital gains tax