Lorry Driver Self Assessment and HGV Driver Tax Returns
Self Assessment for a lorry driver is not complicated in itself. What causes trouble is the mix: a few months on PAYE, a few months through an agency, a spell as an owner-driver, a self-billed customer who supplies statements rather than invoices, and a truck bought part way through the year.
This page covers the return itself. If you are employed and want to claim relief for costs your employer does not reimburse, the HGV driver tax rebate page is the right route, and it is a different claim from this one.
- Who this is for
- Lorry drivers and HGV owner-drivers who have to file a Self Assessment return, whether because they are self-employed, because they have a second source of income, or because HMRC has issued a notice to file.
- The problem
- Most drivers who file late did not decide to file late. They were never clearly told a return was due, or they were waiting for a document that was never going to arrive.
Who Has to File
You need to file a Self Assessment return if any of the following applied in the tax year, which runs from 6 April to 5 April.
- You were self-employed as an HGV owner-driver or a haulage subcontractor, above the trading allowance.
- You were a partner in a haulage partnership.
- HMRC issued you a notice to file, which stands until HMRC withdraws it, even if you think you owe nothing.
- You had untaxed income that PAYE could not collect, or income that took you into a higher rate band.
- You are a company director drawing dividends from your own haulage or driving company, where HMRC has asked for a return.
The Dates
| What | When |
|---|---|
| Register for Self Assessment for a new source | 5 October after the end of the tax year the source started |
| Paper return | 31 October following the end of the tax year |
| Online return | 31 January following the end of the tax year |
| Balancing payment for the tax year | 31 January |
| First payment on account for the next year | 31 January |
| Second payment on account | 31 July |
Payments on account are the part that catches out first-year owner-drivers. In your first profitable year the January bill can be one and a half times the tax due, because it settles the year just gone and pays half of the next one in advance. We tell you that figure when the return is prepared, not when it is due.
What Goes on the Return
Income
- Self-employed haulage income, taken from your invoices or from self-billed statements. Both count as your turnover, and self-billing does not change whose income it is.
- Employment income and tax deducted, from your P60 or P45, where you were also employed during the year.
- Any other untaxed income, including a second vehicle hired out or property income.
Deductions
- Running costs of the vehicle: fuel, tyres, repairs, insurance, vehicle excise duty, levy, tolls, tachograph calibration and parking while working.
- Capital allowances on the vehicle and equipment, where you own or are buying it. This is not the same as deducting the finance payment.
- Interest on the finance agreement, separated from the capital element.
- Operator licence costs, trade subscriptions and Driver CPC training where it maintains the qualification the business needs.
- Subsistence actually incurred while working away from your normal base, with records. This is a business expense test, not the employee night-out allowance.
- Accountancy fees, phone and the working share of home costs.
What We Need From You
To prepare an HGV driver tax return
- Sales invoices or self-bill remittance statements for the full tax year.
- P60 and any P45 for employed periods in the same year.
- Business bank statements for the year.
- Fuel card statements.
- The vehicle finance agreement and the payment schedule.
- Purchase invoices for repairs, tyres, parts and insurance.
- Receipts for subsistence and overnight costs paid personally.
- Your Unique Taxpayer Reference and National Insurance number.
- Last year's return, if somebody else prepared it.
Fees and the Next Step
A fixed fee, quoted before the work starts, for the return itself. If the records need building from statements rather than from a bookkeeping system, we say so in the quote and price it, rather than starting the work and adding it later.
Tell us which tax year, whether you were employed, self-employed or both, and whether the records exist. We come back with the fee and the filing date.
Common Questions
I only started driving my own truck in January. Do I file this year?
If the trade started before 6 April, it belongs in that tax year's return, and you register by 5 October after the end of that tax year. A short first period is normal and often produces a small profit or a loss because the capital allowances on the vehicle land in it.
My customer self-bills me. Do I still have income to declare?
Yes. Self-billing changes who raises the document, not whose income it is. The self-billed amounts are your turnover and go on your return. What matters is that the statements are complete: the most common error is a missing month nobody noticed because no invoice was raised to chase.
What happens if I file late?
A fixed penalty applies once the deadline passes, with further penalties and interest as the delay lengthens. Filing late with an estimate is not a fix, because an incorrect return carries its own consequences. If you are already late, the fastest route out is a complete return filed as soon as possible, and if there is a genuine reason for the delay it is put to HMRC at the same time.
Do I need to worry about Making Tax Digital?
If you have self-employed income, yes, on a timetable set by your qualifying income. It replaces the annual return with quarterly updates and digital record keeping. The guide on Making Tax Digital for HGV owner-drivers sets out the thresholds and the dates.
Other Services
- HGV Owner-Driver AccountantsOne truck, your name on the finance agreement, and a business that has to fund a vehicle as well as pay you.
- HGV Driver Tax RebateFor employed and agency HGV drivers who think they have overpaid tax, and want to know what is genuinely claimable.
- HGV Driver AccountantsFor drivers who do not own the truck: employed, agency, umbrella or working through their own limited company.
Sources
This page was written from the official guidance below. Rules and figures change, so check the source before acting on anything here.
- Self Assessment tax returns: deadlines (opens in a new tab)GOV.UK · checked 2026-08-03
- Expenses if you're self-employed (opens in a new tab)GOV.UK · checked 2026-08-03
- EIM66205: lorry drivers, overnight subsistence allowance (opens in a new tab)HMRC Employment Income Manual · checked 2026-08-03
- Claim capital allowances (opens in a new tab)GOV.UK · checked 2026-08-03
- Check if you're eligible for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (opens in a new tab)GOV.UK · checked 2026-08-03
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