There are about 365,000 ordinary (alternatively called general) business partnerships in the UK, which is roughly 7% of the business population. Partners share personal responsibility for the partnership’s debts, while each year they pay tax on their share of the income they receive from the partnership.

In addition, there are also almost 60,000 limited partnerships, where partner liability is restricted to how much partners invest in the business. And then there are about 53,000 limited liability partnerships (LLPs), where partners enjoy protection from business debts should the partnership go bust.

Whatever the partnership type, each partner must report their share of the partnership’s income via their own personal tax return, while a return must also be filed for the partnership itself.

What is an “SA800”?

 SA800 is the name of the UK business partnership tax return. One of the business partners is nominated to ensure that the partnership’s SA800 tax return is completed accurately and filed before the deadline (midnight on 31 January for online filing). If the SA800 is not submitted before the deadline, each partner must pay an automatic £100 penalty (unless they have a justifiable reason).

The SA800 reports a partnership’s income and details how income was shared among the partners, whether distributed equally or otherwise. As regards an ordinary or general business partnership, the partnership itself isn’t taxed. However, the partners are taxed, based on their share of the business and how much other taxable income they report.

• Partners use the short version of the SA104 supplementary pages (ie SA104S) when filing their SA100 Self Assessment tax return if they’re only reporting partnership trading income and “interest or alternative finance receipts received after tax was deducted from banks or building societies”.
• Partners who cannot use the short version must use the SA104F, which covers all payable possible types of partnership income.
• If someone is a member of more than one ordinary business partnership, an SA104 and Partnership Tax Return SA800 for each must be completed and filed.

Need to know!

Your first SA800 will be due when the tax year during which income was earned ended on 5 April. You’ll also need to register for Self Assessment if you’re not already registered. Most people file their completed SA800 Partnership Tax Return and any supplementary pages online. You need commercial tax return filing software to do this, you cannot do it online via HMRC’s digital services.

What information must be included in an SA800?

As well as completing the main SA800 tax return, depending on which taxable sources the partnership earns income from, it may be necessary to complete and file supplementary pages. HMRC does not tell you which supplementary pages you need to complete, the nominated partner will need to do that themselves.

• On page 2 of the SA800, the nominated partner must state whether the partnership made any taxable income from UK property, foreign income and/or disposing of chargeable assets, and state whether any of the partners is not resident in the UK or is a company (partners don’t have to be people).
• Income and expenses for the accounting period must also be summarised, as well as any capital allowances (ie a type of tax relief for businesses).
• The partnership’s turnover, allowable expenses and net profit must also be stated, with a breakdown of costs, as well as any tax adjustments to net profit or loss for the accounting period. If the partnership has made any income through interest, this too must be detailed.
• Individual partner details (name, address, date appointed, UTR and NI numbers, etc) and their share of the profits, losses, income and tax credits must also be detailed.
• The nominated partner must then make a signed and dated declaration on the final page of the SA800 to confirm that the information they’ve given is correct and complete to the best of their knowledge and belief.
• Visit government website GOV.UK to view a blank SA800 Partnership Tax Return.

How do partners report their income?

Each partner must also complete a Self Assessment tax return (an eight-page form called an SA100) with supplementary page SA104 to report their share of the partnership income. Depending on whether they earn income from other taxable sources, other supplementary pages may need to be completed, for example, SA105 (UK rental income), SA108 (capital gains), etc.

HMRC will then assess the SA100, SA104 and any other supplementary pages to work out overall taxable income and tax due. Deadline for paying any tax owed is 31 January, one year after the online filing deadline. If you want any tax you owe to be automatically taken from your PAYE wage or a pension, you must submit your tax return online by 30 December. Partners may have to pay interest and a late-payment penalty on any tax they pay late.

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