How to use the Ftax SA100 PDF Form

We are very grateful to our clients for their comments and suggestions, without which these guides would not be possible.
If you have a suggestion to improve this guide or its associated video, please email tracey@ftax.co.uk

How to Use the Ftax SA100 – Step by Step Instructions

This guide covers how to submit an Ftax SA100 Self Assessment tax return. It is broken down into the following steps:

1. Register with the Government Gateway and ensure that you have a Government Gateway Username and Password
2. Login to your Ftax account and download the Ftax SA100 form
3. Complete the form including any relevant supplementary sections
4. Attach any required PDFs
5. Make a test submission and if you are a tax agent, generate a PDF for your client to sign (if desired)
6. Submit the form and save the success emails in a known location

1. Make sure you have a Government Gateway Username and Password:

Firstly, you should register with the Government Gateway and ensure you have a Government Gateway User ID and password, and that the password has been activated using the PIN sent in the post. This only needs to be done once, as the same User ID and Password may be used in future years. 

2. Login to your Ftax account and download the Ftax SA100 form

Gather together all relevant tax information and paperwork, log in to your Ftax account and download the SA100 tax form. For further information on getting started with Ftax, see the video and associated guide 'Ftax Setup Checklist'.

3. Complete the form including any relevant supplementary sections

Next, you should begin completing the form. Fill in the personal information on the front page of the form. Enter your Government Gateway Username and Password, along with name, surname and UTR (Unique Tax Reference - a ten digit number which can be found on the top right of the paper tax return).

If you are logged in, a credit will be allocated, a popup will confirm this and a tick will appear next to the UTR:

If you are not logged in, you will be prompted to do so. You can log in anytime by clicking the red ball in the centre of the screen and selecting the bottom option:

Required information which has not been provided will be highlighted in yellow. Hover the mouse over a yellow field see notes which will help you to complete it. To begin completing the main form, you should either click 'Edit' or simply scroll down. 

Please note that you can adjust the size of the side bar and main window so that you can conveniently see the whole form, no matter what size screen you are using. To make the side bar smaller or larger, hover the mouse over the boundary between the two panes until the symbol highlighted in the centre of the screen below appears. You can now use the mouse to drag the left pane larger or smaller. You can also collapse the left pane completely by clicking on the grey left arrow in the centre of the frame between the two panes.

To restore the left pane, use the dropdrown menus from the 'Edit' tab, as shown below:

You should now complete the main section of the tax return. HMRC provides Notes which provide further information and guidiance. They are available at the top of each section of the Ftax SA100 form. The 'Notes' button will take you to the HMRC website where you can download the relevant notes and save in a known location:

As with all data entry, you must save the form regularly to ensure nothing is lost in the event of accident. To save the Ftax SA100, simply click the 'Save' button at the bottom of the first screen (highlighted  below) and save the file in a known location.

Make sure you complete every section of the form which is relevant. To go to a supplementary section, click on the side bar to be taken directly to that section.

When you attempt to navigate to a section, a popup will offer to tick the relevant part of the summary section on page 2. Tick yes on the popup and go to the relevant section:

Note that multiple copies of most sections are available and must be completed if more than one is necessary. To complete another copy, tick the next copy button at the top of the page.

Next, you should return to the front page and click 'Calculate'. An error message will show any problems with the form. To correct an error, click Edit, make the necessary changes and submit again. You can do this as many times as necessary. 

When Calculate has been successful, a brief overview will appear on the front page. In addition, a calculation overview, including the SA302, will be returned. Please note that the payments summary is an estimate. For a definitive guide as to how much tax is owed, you should wait two days after submitting the Ftax SA100 and then login to your HMRC account.

4. Attach any required PDFs

If additional information is necessary, this may be attached as a PDF. To create a PDF, click the Print/PDF Copy button which is located on the front page to the left of the personal information fields. An email will be sent confirming that you have generated the file and a download button on the success screen will allow you to download the form and save it in a known location.

To attach the PDF, click one of the red attach buttons on the first page of the form and select the file from the known location:

5. Make a test submission and if you are a tax agent, generate a PDF or paper copy for your client to sign.

Before you submit the form, you may wish to make a test submission to HMRC. You can do this to check that there are no problems with the form data, as any errors will generate an error message. To make a test submission, go to the front page, click on the red ball with the white question mark inside (highlighted below) and click 'Test Submission to HMRC - On' Again, highlighted in the illustration below:

A red box will appear at the bottom of the page to show you that you are in test mode:

Click 'Submit', 'I agree', Submit Now' and 'Yes' to the pop ups. Any errors with generate a submission error message which will tell you what needs to be corrected:

When you have corrected any errors and submitted in test mode again, a success receipt will be returned, but please be aware that this is a success receipt for a test submission only. You will still need to submit the form in live. Further information on this is described in section 6.

If you are an agent, you are now ready to print a paper copy or generate a PDF for your client to sign. Go back to the main page, click print/pdf and chose the relevant sections on the cascading menus. If you are not an agent but are completing your own Ftax SA100, this is not necessary as Ftax records automatically keeps a copy of the completed form.

6. Submit the form and save the success emails in a known location

Finally, submit the form to HMRC. go to the main page and ensure that 'Test Submission to HMRC' is off. Click 'Submit', 'I agree' and 'Submit Now'. A popup will ask you if you are making a new or amended return. Make sure you click 'Yes' to submit a new return. If you have already submitted, have received an email confirming successful submission and now wish to make an amendment, you should click 'No'. Please be aware that if you have received an error receipt or a success receipt from a test submission to HMRC, you should continue to select 'Yes' until you receive a success receipt from a live submission:

An on screen receipt will confirm successful submission and then two emails will be sent, one from the Ftax servers and one from HMRC. If you are an agent, the onscreen receipt and emails will contain an IR mark which will match the IR mark on the PDF copy of your client's return. Generating a PDF copy for your client to sign is optional but the matching IR marks on both the return and receipt provide an assurance that the return the client signed is what was submitted.

Please note that all of your submission data will be automatically recorded in Ftax Records. This part of the Ftax Service can be securely accessed via the Client/User Manager in your Ftax account. If you wish any or all of your data to be deleted, then you can ask Ftax Support to do so, but please be aware that it would not be possible to retreive data once it had been deleted.

We are very grateful to our clients for their comments and suggestions, without which these guides would not be possible.
If you have a suggestion to improve this guide or its associated video, please email tracey@ftax.co.uk