SA302: What It Is, Who Needs One and How to Get It

If your income arrives on a payslip, proving what you earn is easy: payslips and a P60 do the job. Self-employed people, company directors and landlords have no payslip, so lenders need something else: the SA302, from HM Revenue and Customs.

What an SA302 is

An SA302, sometimes called a tax calculation, is HMRC's calculation of your tax for one tax year, based on the Self Assessment return you filed. GOV.UK describes it as showing your total income, allowances and relief, and the tax you owe.

It is not a form you fill in, and there is no blank SA302 to complete. If you have never filed a Self Assessment return, there is no SA302 for you. See our Self Assessment tax return guide if you are unsure whether you must file.

Who needs one, and why lenders ask

The most common reason is a mortgage application. For employed applicants payslips and a P60 prove income; self-employed applicants have neither, so lenders ask for SA302s instead. The same applies to directors, partners, landlords and contractors.

It is not only mortgages. Business loans, personal loans, rental applications and some visa applications ask for the same proof. Self-certification mortgages were effectively ended by regulation in 2014, which is why the SA302 became the standard substitute.

What your SA302 shows

Your SA302 is a full breakdown, not a single number. It lists income from each source: self-employment profit, employment income, UK rental income, dividends, savings interest and pensions. It then deducts allowances, including your Personal Allowance, and works out the total tax due.

It also shows your name, your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) and the tax year: 6 April to 5 April. It does not show payments already made towards the bill. That is why lenders pair it with a tax year overview, covered below.

How many years lenders usually want

Most mortgage lenders ask for the last two or three tax years of SA302s. Two years is the usual starting point; three shows whether your income is stable, rising or falling. Four years is the furthest back your account holds calculations.

Lenders often average the figures across the years they see, so a strong latest year may not carry the application if earlier years were much lower. Keep each year's documents, labelled by tax year. First-time buyers should also read our guide to first-time buyer stamp duty relief.

How to get your SA302

The quickest route is online. Log in to your HMRC online account, go to Self Assessment, then More details about your Self Assessment returns and payments, and select Get your SA302 tax calculation. Choose the tax year, select View your calculation, then print the full calculation as a PDF.

The HMRC app shows the same documents. Either way, remember the 72-hour rule: you cannot print until 72 hours after you sent your tax return.

If you cannot get it online, call the Self Assessment helpline on 0300 200 3310 and ask for a copy by post, with your UTR and National Insurance number ready. A posted copy takes longer, so request it well ahead of any deadline.

SA302 vs tax year overview

The two are often requested together, but they are not duplicates. The SA302 is the detailed calculation: every income source, every allowance, and how the final bill was worked out. The overview is a shorter statement showing the total tax due, what you have paid, and any balance left.

Lenders want both because each answers a different question. The SA302 proves what you earned; the overview proves HMRC has processed the return and the tax was paid. The figures must agree. If they do not, a lender will pause the application. Download both for each year, and keep each pair together.

Illustrative worked example: a £42,000 freelance profit

This example is illustrative only, and covers Income Tax alone. Take a freelance designer whose only income in 2024/25 was a £42,000 self-employment profit. Her SA302 would show £42,000 income, less the £12,570 Personal Allowance, leaving £29,430 taxable. At the 20% basic rate, the Income Tax is £5,886.

The arithmetic: £42,000 minus £12,570 equals £29,430, and 20% of £29,430 is £5,886. It only holds because the whole amount falls inside the basic-rate band, up to £37,700 of taxable income. A lender would also look at the previous year: £38,000 there gives a two-year average of £40,000.

Common problems and how to fix them

The most common problem is that the SA302 is not visible in your HMRC account. If your accountant filed through commercial software, HMRC does not generate the online view; your accountant exports the equivalent computation instead. Check how the return was filed before assuming something is wrong.

A second problem is timing: filed less than 72 hours ago, the calculation is simply not ready yet. A third is figures that do not match. If the SA302 total and the overview disagree, check whether the return was amended after filing.

Finally, watch the version you send. Lenders want the full calculation, not a screenshot of your account balance, and the right tax year: a 2023/24 SA302 sent for a 2024/25 request will be bounced back. If your code looks wrong on a payslip, our 1257L tax code guide explains what the numbers mean.

This article is general information only, not financial advice.