How to do Tax Return for wages as Sole Trader?

[treez]

Hi,
I recently did 11 days work as an electronics engineer for a company in London and was payed £2538 for it. (Early November 2025).

I submitted an invoice to them, and then they just payed the money into my personal bank account. (they did not dedeuct Tax or NI)
They didnt give me any document to say they had payed me.

I am now registering as a "Sole Trader" and will hopefully get a UTR.

I will have to do a Tax Return by January 2027.

How will i add this to the Tax Return? The only documentation is my personal bank statement showing the £2538 , with all my other personal financial transactions alongside it.

[AGoodman]

If you do your tax return online (which I'd recommend), you just tick to say you have self-employment income and it will walk you through it. You should be able to deduct £1,000 trading allowance (but no other related expenses) from the £2538 and pay tax on the balance.

You don't need to upload/send any documents.

[treez]

Thanks, unfortunately i cannot even start to do the Tax return until after 6 May 2026, so i wont know until then. But surely i cant just say i earned £2538?...i mean, surely this needs to be traceable?...i'm not lying, but suppose i was...suppose i really earned £5000?

Dont i have to have some kind of payment form from the company who payed me, which prooves that i was payed £2538?

I mean, i have heard that one needs to get a "business bank account" so that you can just send the statement from that to the HMRC?

BTW, can't this just be a "normal bank account"?...."business bank accounts" cost ~£9/month.

So, how can i proove to the HMRC that i did earn just £2538....as discussed, i cant start filling in self-assessment now, since its not the end of the Tax year yet?

Is it worth me writing a paper letter to the HMRC asking about this?

I am finding hundreds of online web-pages about this but none tell you exactly what you have to do to declare sole trader earnings?

[treez]

Thanks, unfortunately i cannot even start to do the Tax return until after 6 May 2026, so i wont know until then. But surely i cant just say i earned £2538?...i mean, surely this needs to be traceable?...i'm not lying, but suppose i was...suppose i really earned £5000?

Dont i have to have some kind of payment form from the company who payed me, which prooves that i was payed £2538?

I mean, i have heard that one needs to get a "business bank account" so that you can just send the statement from that to the HMRC?

BTW, can't this just be a "normal bank account"?...."business bank accounts" cost ~£9/month.

So, how can i proove to the HMRC that i did earn just £2538....as discussed, i cant start filling in self-assessment now, since its not the end of the Tax year yet?

Is it worth me writing a paper letter to the HMRC asking about this?

I am finding hundreds of online web-pages about this but none tell you exactly what you have to do to declare sole trader earnings?

______ _______
Hi,
Ive just listened to this , and it doesn't tell you how a sole trader can prove that the figure they submit as being received is actually
correct...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pprBWz0cI8A

Unfortunately I wont know what records the HMRC want until after April 6th 2026, because Tax returns are not permitted within the
tax year in which they were received.

It says you have to keep records , and may be fined if the records are poor, but doesn't say what constitutes a poor record of
a tax return?

Is the following OK for my tax return records?......

https://ibb.co/21S886YY

[pawncob]

As AGoodman says, just fill in the S/E page in the tax return.
HMRC don't require any evidence unless they open an enquiry. They trust you to be honest!

[TDR]

You will only need to prove it if HMRC open an enquiry. If they do, then the bank statement showing the deposit and your own explanation will likely satisfy them.

It's not a big sum - don't sweat the small stuff. AGoodman's response is more than adequate.